Money Saving Tech Tips & Philosophic Musings

Why Sm Biz and Home Users are NOT Excited about Windows 7

2009-11-14T08:00:00.006-05:00

One of the ZDnet bloggers posed a question as to why so many people are still using “obsolete” Windows software. This may be another case of standing in the trees and not seeing the forest. Most of the people in the computer industry make rash assumptions as to the level of expertise and fervor the average user has. The bulk of the studies or surveys are done by contacting corporate users. This makes sense, you can get a great number of responses easily but you are dipping your toe into a limited pool. Seldom is there any attempt to find out what the small business or home user wants, let alone needs.

I’m retired, I just want my computers to run. Admittedly after spending 25 years in the industry I have a little more expertise than the average user. I also have a network. I have no interest in upgrading the OS of my machines. In 25 years I have seen nothing but incremental increases in ease of use or reliability in operating systems. I have seen MS automatic updates trash one of my systems to the point where I suspect I will just use if for spare parts rather than trying to recover the OS from whatever quadrant of space the automatic update sent it. I have seen MS automatic updates isolate my computers from each other so I have to reinstall networking.

So if I, who theoretically have a little more expertise than the average user, why in any sane world, would I want to dive in the cesspool of upgrading my OS. I have one notebook with Vista as long as I don’t expect a great deal from it, it is fine. My XP systems are tweaked, they run what I want and for the most part, unless the friendly folks at MS send out another automatic update, the are stable.
This is why real people, not corporate users who generally get no choice, have no interest in upgrades. They want their computer to work like their toaster or blender, do the job, do it reliably and don’t screw me up.

Ratings Of Anti-Virus & Anti-Malware Software

2009-11-10T08:00:00.010-05:00

My experiences with the paid anti-virus community have not been positive. I have had issues with Norton and McAfee conflicting with software I normally run. I currently use Avast Anti-Virus and both Ad-Aware and Spy-Bot Search and Destroy. I suspect they are not top notch but by using them all, I have had pretty good protection. My innate cynicism kicks in when ever I read glowing reviews about different software packages. ZDnet.com has a good article rating the behavior of different anti-virus and malware solutions. Don’t be deluded into thinking that the ones marked free are really free. You will find them to be either trial versions or a version that tells you, “yes I have found much nasty stuff and if you will slip $50.00 in small unmarked bills underneath the un-welcome mat, I will then remove them for you”.

Here is a LINK to go to the chart that rates the software, look at it with a jaundice eye and read the accompanying text. I didn’t find the chart all that useful but again, I am rather cynical about who rates what and how much did they get for doing it.

iPhone Extortion

2009-11-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

I read an article on Zdnet the other day on how a Dutch teenager sent out an unknown number of messages to iPhones explaining that they were hackable and for a small fee paid to his paypal account he would explain how to block people from doing what he was doing. He exploited a known security vulnerability and claimed he, himself, would do no harm but if he could hack their phone so could others. Regardless of his intent, his hacking resulted in a tsunami of outrage. He then apologized, posted a fix of the vulnerability and then my guess is he headed for the hills. The article did not detail what happened, if anything, to him. Once again truth is so much stranger than fiction.

Internet Safety

2009-11-02T08:00:00.011-05:00

I know another “be careful on the Internet” article. The Internet is somewhat like Las Vegas, it has beauty, glitz, shiny lights, fabulous shows and as long as you stay on the main drag in the well known places you are safe. If you wander off onto side streets, just like in any major city, you may find things you really didn’t want to see.

You can caution older kids and revoke Internet privileges if they ignore your cautions. Pre-school and primary grade children are an entirely different situation. Older kids may wander into nefarious activity intentionally; the younger ones generally get into questionable areas quite unintentionally.

This isn’t a new problem, an article in the NY Times six years ago pointed out that kids searching for something like Disney and misspelling it, ended up in places they shouldn’t have been. I point this out because these very young children seem quite adept on the computer. There are a wealth of sites that have mentally challenging games and activities for the pre-school/primary school age child. It is easy to assume they will stay on the site you initially log on to for them and then go wash the car or stick your nose in a book. These younger children need active oversight when on the computer. If for no other reason that when you come back you may find that your wall paper is gone, your home page on your browser is now adware and the child is looking curiously at unclothed people.

Watching my grandchildren on the computer I’ve noticed that an errant mouse click can provide a wealth of options. I watched a three year old inadvertently leave the Disney video he was watching and end up in my spam filter. No harm, no foul but he was in the parameter screen and if I hadn’t been actively watching I suspect that my spam filter would be less than reliable. The 5.5 year old changed the wallpaper on the computer while I watched. That was not her intent but that is what occurred.

So PLEASE, don’t just park your younger children in front of the computer and expect them to be safe. Actively watch what they are doing. The Internet has terrific resources for your child but YOU need to be actively involved, particularly with the pre-school and primary age kids.

Wi-Fi Direct Is Coming!

2009-10-29T08:00:00.005-04:00

Bluetooth is being called out by Wi-Fi direct. This is a new specification that announced by the Wi-FiAlliance (the industry group that promotes Wi-Fi) that will allow wireless devices to connect to each other without needing a router. They claim it will work out to about 300 feet and have data rates compatible with current Wi-Fi technology. This could put a serious hurt to Bluetooth if widely adopted. The new peer-to-peer spec is expected to be published soon and the industry group plans on certifying devices in the coming year. It should be an interesting face off. If you want more detailed information, the article I read was on Cnet.

CounterSpy® Award Winning Antispyware Software

2009-10-27T14:09:00.000-04:00

Periodically I get a request to write a review on a product and in return get some financial consideration. Being retired, if I can in good conscience write something without impugning by personal ethics, I am happy to accept. I did receive a fee for writing the following blog and that did not impact whatsoever my writing. For those of you that know me, that is easily accepted, for those of you who don’t, in some circles I am considered opinionated. I can’t imagine why?

Sunbelt’s CounterSpy has some very nice characteristics. First, you should MOST DEFINATELY be using some product to protect you from spyware and malware. Since most of us resent anything that hogs our computer resources, you want to use a program that demands the least resources and yet provided maximum protection. Take a look at the charts at Sunbelt’s site and look at resource allocation; I think you may find some eye opening information. At $20.00, this program is a very good value. I know I spent way, way more than $20.00 worth of time getting a piece of malware off of my daughter’s computer that her free antispyware software let through. Check it out and ponder, what is your time worth and will this product save you some time and aggravation?

An Interesting Site with a Fun IPhone Ap

2009-10-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

I just ran across an interesting site that evaluates On-Line Universities. It only evaluates accredited schools which, of course, is the only kind you want. The fake diploma game is too easy to expose with the ease of data search brought about by the Internet. Anyway there was an interesting post titled

75 Apps to Turn Your iPhone into the Ultimate Personal Library.

Of course having a boat load of books on my PDA, I am predisposed to the exciting concept of e-books. I still prefer holding a book in my hand but there is something to be said for holding 75 books in the palm of my hand. Click on the title if you want to read the blog. Think of the bucks you can save downloading free books. I found it interesting and if the IPhone ever becomes a good phone as well as an excellent PDA, I may get one.

BTW the bat graphic is apropos of Halloween not the iPhone.

First Sale Just saw

2009-10-21T13:52:00.001-04:00

First Sale Just saw my first copy of "Daddy Goes On A Trip" was sold on Amazon. WhooHoo! This is so much fun!

Nerds by Michael Buckley

2009-10-21T11:45:00.002-04:00

Nerds by Michael Buckley posted today at http://htxt.it/GZXY An amusing book on nerds by a self professed nerd, targeting middle school kids.

Backup Applies to Phones Too

2009-10-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

If you have followed this blog, you are aware that I periodically write a rant about not backing up. Backup of computers is the normal topic. Recently after reading about the Sidekick debacle, it occurred to me that people need to backup their phones too. We all have myriad phone numbers and addresses in our phone. Many of us have photos that are important to us. The more sophisticated phones and users have data, contacts, emails and more on their phones. As the Sidekick sideshow demonstrates, this is just a disaster waiting to happen.

With the astounding drop in prices in the flash memory arena there is no excuse for not upgrading your phone memory card and storing your data on the card as opposed to the internal memory. Then it is a relatively simple procedure to periodically pull the card, pop it into your flash drive and save the info to your laptop. (which is, of course, backed up to your desktop, which has at least one external drive, and network connections to your other computers all of whom back up each other.)

Sounds paranoid but ….if you haven’t lost data at some point in time due to not having had it backed up, you probably aren’t using a computer of any kind and face it, our phones are now computers. I am an obsessive grandparent, I would be crushed to lose the photos on my phone which is why they are all backed up.

Don’t be one of the unwashed, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth users who don’t back up. Do it now, while you are thinking about it.

Monday

2009-10-19T14:32:00.002-04:00

FireFox Alert

2009-10-17T12:30:00.000-04:00

Not long ago Microsoft introduced a plugin to FireFox without asking permission thusly most users of FireFox have this plugin without their knowledge or consent.
As the ZDNet article said, ” Well, the code in that add-on has a serious code execution vulnerability that exposes Firefox users to the “browse and you’re owned” attacks that are typically used in drive-by malware downloads.”

Due to the normal vulnerability lapses that Microsoft builds into their software I have accepted the need to do automatic updates when they send out the patches for the problem they created in the first place. I admit to a burning rage whenever they do an automatic update that isolates each computer on my network and I have to reconnect everything. I admit to the same rage when one of their updates negatively impacts another vendors software that I use regularly.

I found ie8 so astoundingly slow that I finally moved to FireFox just to be able to surf the net without ie8’s plodding behavior. Imagine my surprise on reading the ZDnet article and discovering that Microsoft has secreted a plugin on my FireFox that increases my vulnerability to malware. I guess surprise isn’t accurate, perhaps resigned to BigBrother hosing me again is more appropriate. Now that I have vented my spleen I can move to the fix for the Microsoft intrusion into the security of my FireFox.

Again from ZDnet, “Now, Microsoft’s security folks are actually recommending that Firefox users uninstall the buggy add-on:
For Firefox users with .NET Framework 3.5 installed, you may use “Tools”-> “Add-ons” -> “Plugins”, select “Windows Presentation Foundation”, and click “Disable”.

I followed these instructions and disabled the Microsoft plugin. Once again, Microsoft has stepped into my home, crapped on my floor and leaves it to me to clean up the mess.

On days like this a

2009-10-16T13:32:00.001-04:00

On days like this a good book, a comfortable chair and a warm afghan seems so appropriate. That is a knitted type afghan as opposed to a newsworthy combatant.

Cheap Laptop For the Brave

2009-10-16T11:59:00.002-04:00

Cheap Laptop For the Brave
Get the details on Compaq's new cheap laptop with Windows 7
Are you brave enough to go the Windows 7 route?

Daddy Goes On A Trip

2009-10-15T21:04:00.002-04:00

"Daddy Goes On A Trip" passed final edit. My 2nd book will be available for sale at Amazon, next week.

Mobile Plate Hunter-900

2009-10-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

Although this sounds like something you might see in a Road Runner cartoon, it is a pretty cool tool. This isn’t a money saving tech tip or a philosophic musing, just a Wow, that is a cool device.

The Mobile Plate Hunter-900 is license plate recognition software combined with a camera to enable cops to catch creeps. It has three cameras that record license plates and vehicle images. It can do up to 3,600 per minute and supposedly is not impacted by day, night or inclement weather. Not faulting the human eye or brain but I sincerely doubt most people could process that level of information in a timely manner. The captured images are automatically processed through the data base to determine if any of the plate numbers have been stolen or involved in a crime. It can even tell the officer the type of crime so they can be prepared for the type of perpetrator they will be pulling over.

It isn’t cheap but for about $20,000 you have a tool that greatly enhances the ability of law enforcement to nail the miscreants. It sounds like a very cool tool.

Particulars from their web site:
Real time technology of the MPH-900 greatly increases the odds of resolving issues and in severe situations, can be the difference between life and death. Our advanced License Plate Reader system:
• Captures up to 3,600 license plate reads per minute, day or night, accurately recognizing plates from all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and many Arabic characters
• Processes parked and moving vehicles across up to 4 lanes of traffic, day or night, in any weather
• Transit speed up to 75 mph can be easily managed by our License Plate Reader system. It exceeds the normal speed of vehicles through the pathway (due to pathway infrastructure limitations)
• Allows officers to update “Hot Lists” manually at any time and also query them for new tags that may match a recently captured vehicle
• Alerts officers within milliseconds if a vehicle is suspect
• Works at patrol and highway speeds - oncoming differential speeds in excess of 120MPH and passing speeds in excess of 75MPH, plus; The ALPR translates the license plate data into a digital image, checks versus an onboard hot list, and returns an alarm back to the operator in milliseconds for appropriate interdiction
• Hot Lists can be updated manually or wirelessly
• Officers can search LPR system for previous reads at any time in reaction to notification of a suspect vehicle

Flash Memory Deals Good Until October 11, 2009

2009-10-09T08:00:00.004-04:00

This is not a paid blog and I have no relationship to SuperMedia besides being a customer. I have received no compensation whatsoever for this posting. That being said, I thought the prices on flash memory on this flyer were so good they deserved to be posted. I have purchased from SuperMediaStore.com for several years and have never been disappointed with their prices or product. I am not endorsing these products but the pricing appears to be very good.

Notebook Theft Alarm Using Your Flash Drive

2009-10-07T08:00:00.006-04:00

I got this email recently and checked out the website. It sounds interesting. I am not recommending it since I haven’t tried it. I am passing it along since it sounds pretty good but as always buyer beware and do your research. It doesn’t seem like a scam so I am posting it.

Hi, I am submitting a money saving tech tip for your blog readers.
-----------------
A New Life To Old Flash Drives
Don't throw your old USB flash drive away. Instead, you can use an old flash drive as a laptop alarm to prevent your laptop from being stolen. Here is how.
1. Install free software on your laptop. www.lalarm.com/LaptopAlarm. (free for personal use)
2. Fasten a neck strap to your old USB flash drive.
3. Fasten the other end of the strap to a table.
4. Plug in the USB flash drive into a USB port of a laptop.
5. Lock the laptop by pressing the Windows logo key and L key together.
When a thief removes the laptop from the table, the USB flash drive will be disconnected from the laptop and then a loud siren sound will be emitted. (See photos: www.lalarm.com/arm2) In addition to sounding an alarm, the software sends an alert to your mobile phone. This tip is also useful if you worry about identity theft. The free software destroys data in case of laptop theft.

Get Published

2009-10-03T09:05:00.001-04:00

This falls under the philosophic musing heading. There are many claims that self publishing is becoming more popular. I think many people who feel a need for self expression have finally found a reasonably inexpensive way of doing it. The traditional publishing scenario where an author submits books to a publisher and spends years being rejected continues but now there is an alternative. Previously in most cases if you didn’t have an agent, you couldn’t get a publisher to even look at your manuscript with self publishing it is more dependent on your tenacity to get it published.

Self publishing can be done for nothing on Amazon. Their publisher CreateSpace will allow you to put your book into published format and sell it on Amazon. If you want a proof to insure what you did online is what you really wanted to do, it costs $10.00. When you are satisfied, it goes up on Amazon and you are published. Now some people believe that until someone buys your work you really aren’t an author. I think perhaps a better definition might be you aren’t an author until someone actually reads your book. Regardless of how you define authorship getting your book printed really is the first step. Now you have to market your book.

Marketing a book submitted to a publisher is generally the publisher’s problem not the authors. For the self publisher, marketing can be daunting. If you hope to sell to someone besides your relatives you will need to make a commitment to as much or often more time than it took to get the book written in the first place. Perhaps when I am successful in marketing mine I will be better able to blog on the process. There are other blogs that can help in the process.

Bottom line is if you have something to say and want to get it in print their no excuses anymore. You can do it and do it without spending a fortune. If you have a few bucks and want more help, Lulu and iUniverse are two of the publishing services I have found that seem well reviewed. I have no personal experience with them so do your own due diligence. Be aware that there are many online outfits that will suck your bank account dry while promising to make you a best selling author. Do your research; I am sure that there are other inexpensive methods of getting publishing that I haven’t found yet. Remember no excuses, if you want to do it you can.

RAM Buyer Beware

2009-09-27T08:00:00.003-04:00

Once more I am reminded of the complicated aspects of the personal computer. Due to the RAM hungry demands of the ever popular MS automatic updates my wife's and my own computer have been slowing down. I knew I needed pc2100 ddr RAM so I went shopping. What was interesting was that I found that density is also important in RAM choice. It appears that high density RAM is considerably less expensive than low density RAM The only defining difference I could find was that low density RAM is 64X8 and high density is either 128x8 or 128x4. What was frustrating was that neither motherboard manual said a darn thing about density on RAM but several articles I found said that high density RAM was only suitable for specific motherboards. I did note that a couple of guys on eBay noted that their RAM was high or low and cautioned that many sellers didn't mention that and no returns for incompatibility.

After mixing and matching between three machines I was able to get all three up to 2gb but it wasn't easy. For those of you who don't have access to RAM without first buying it, Good Luck! Things aren't getting any easier but I did notice that newer RAM was substantially cheaper than the older pc2100 memory. So maybe you should upgrade sooner than later.

Nintendo DSi

2009-09-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

My grandson and I took a trip recently. His DS and DSi accompanied us. If you are under 20 you can stop reading now because you know all of this. The DSi is the latest system from Nintendo and is a computer in so many ways. Of course you can game on it. The thing I find just astounding is the ease that it connects to wireless networks or other DS systems. At one point he and 5 of his cousins were all playing Mario Kart. An ad hoc network set up by 11 year olds. Listening to all the screaming, yelling and laughter, I had to wonder why so many out of touch parents are opposed to the idea of kids playing video games with each other. How is that less acceptable than sitting around and playing a board game? Certainly you need exercise and like anything else, excess is not a good thing. Too many people ignore the fact that it allows kids to communicate and play while simultaneously introducing them to the intricacies of networking.

In addition to the ability to easily network locally, the DSi connects to the Internet with astounding ease. You have the ability to go online and play games with people all around the world.

The DSi has a camera so the budding photog can take digital pictures with his DSi. Then the photos can be tweaked, toyed with, totally messed up and you can share them with your friends. This feature led to a great deal of hilarity and outrage as various cousins had their noses enlarged, the eyes blown up or their teeth colored.

You can play with sound as well. The DSi has the ability to record and play your own sounds. In addition you can hook up your headphones and listen to tunes you load through the micro SD card slot.

The touch screen and dual screens provide an additional resource. This thing is so cool, I am tempted to get one myself. At $169.00 at Amazon it is good value for the money, an amazing toy and an equally astounding learning/teaching tool. There is a wealth of software cartridges for it and you have many, many choices that do NOT involve first person shooter type games.

The Nintendo DSi is well worth checking out.

Paid Blogging, Ethical?

2009-09-21T21:12:00.000-04:00

I occasionally write a paid blog. It may be on something as strange as maternity clothes or police type shoes. You write a blog, put in a link and get paid for your trouble. Some really popular blogs with big followings can reap some serious money doing this. I am not in that category but wish I was. I have never written a paid blog that I didn’t believe what I was writing.

For example the maternity clothes post sent those who clicked the link to a site that offered some very stylish and reasonably priced maternity clothes. I despair sometimes at how depressed the pregnant woman sometimes gets in regards to self image. My motivation for blogging was that everybody is happier if the expectant mother is happy. The impending Mom, the husband and anyone else in the family is happier if Mom is happy. Clothes can help the self image and if you have never been pregnant or married to someone pregnant or loved someone who is pregnant, you need to understand; sometimes they need help to feel good about themselves. Thus I felt good about writing a paid post that pointed them in the right direction of very stylish, reasonably priced maternity clothes.

The police type shoes site is one my nephew has purchased shoes from and absolutely loves the site and the shoes. So I had no problem getting paid for a blog post that pointed people to that site.

Since I don’t have a blog that generates enough traffic to be offered big dollars for a paid post I haven’t faced an ethical dilemma yet. I hope that if I ever do I can stick to my guns about only writing about things I believe are good.

Paid blogging is getting a lot of negative newsprint lately in regards to the Mommy bloggers accepting large ticket items and writing positive reviews have gotten a lot of press. I have reviewed products on this blog. I have never gotten free product for writing a positive review. No one has sent me cool electronics and said keep them if you write a positive review. Now if any manufacturer reading this wants to send me some cool, expensive gear to keep, I will be happy to review it. However you will get an honest post on what I think about your product, not necessarily what you want me to say.

Here are links to places to investigate if you want to do paid blogging.
PayPerPost
Sponsored Reviews
Blog Distributor
Associated Content

Friday Five Through The Ages

2009-09-18T00:46:00.001-04:00

The responsibility for this post rests securely on the head of 70steen of FuelMyBlog membership. She posted photos of herself over the last few decades.

Her photos were much more interesting than mine but I found the concept entertaining. Therefore peruse at your own risk 5 decades of yours truly and how one can “progress” through life.

The Photos

Free Bluetooth Headset

2009-09-17T12:03:00.003-04:00

Ok, Free is always suspicious. I have a bluetooth headset so I don't need one. I got this from Buy.com and I have had good experiences there. Check it out, I am not recommending it, I am not getting paid to mention it, I just thought it might be of interest to someone who needs/wants a bluetooth headset.

Here is the Link.

Defining Customer Service

2009-09-15T22:13:00.000-04:00

I have written many times over the past couple of years about declining customer service. I read this week on ZDNet.com an article about the “crapware” that pretends it is helpware and is stealing your data, corrupting your system and robbing you blind. (See my blog on spyware) Comments on the article ranged widely but the one that caught my attention was a self proclaimed “IT Expert” working in computer support who thinks that the people he supports are stupid and deserve to have their computers trashed by spyware. Sadly this abysmal attitude seems to be rampant in customer support. Once again I am going to mention Diamond Case Designs, Inc. - 655 N. Shepard St. - Anaheim, CA 92806 - (800) 616-5354 - www.diamondcase.com . They epitomize what customer service should be. Their recent newsletter had this customer spotlight that I think defines what customer service needs to be. BTW I do not get any financial considerations of any type from Diamond Case and this is not a paid blog.

Diamond Case Designs Customer Spotlight:
Accomplished Author Ian Randall Wilson

You may wonder how two seemingly innocent looking cats could affect the design of a custom entertainment center. Well let's just say to call these cats curious is an understatement. Please read on to find out how Diamond Case Designs, Inc. worked hand in hand with author Ian Randall Wilson to design the perfect furniture solution to fit his unique space, organize his electronics, and ensure curiosity did not kill the cat. (Link to full article)