Skylarking

Good Advice from SM Business Solutions

Robert Saunders — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 07:58:43 +0000

SM Business Solutions LLC is an Inbound Marketing company based in Freeport, NY — not far from the Skylarking offices. It is owned and operated by Sandra McCarty. Among other tools and outlets, Sandra recommends blogging as a means to “grow your business”.

She puts her money where her mouth is, as she is an avid blogger and ghost blogger, and she blogs every week on her own site.

Not only does she blog on methods for growing your business using websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, but she also provides some advice on protecting your online identity and your computer. One particular useful post from a computer security standpoint is:

Beware of Computer Hackers: Discusses how to avoid online pitfalls that could infect your computer with viruses, spyware, and adware. I also liked Sandra’s comment on this post where she discusses using secure passwords for your online services.

Last Chance – TigerDirect Computer Hardware and HDTV Coupon Codes

Robert Saunders — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:27:47 +0000

It’s a hot and busy day here on Long Island folks. Here’s some exclusive coupon codes savings from me to you for TigerDirect.com. Just enter the necessary codes at checkout for extra savings.

Pinnacle Studio MovieBox

SAVE $35 – Pinnacle Studio MovieBox Plus USB Analog/Digital Video Encoder Refurbished: $34.99 after COUPON CODE: VIU3691

Intel Core i7 Quad-Core Processor

SAVE $30 – FREE SHIPPING – Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 Quad-Core Retail Processor: $249.99 after COUPON CODE: KKP3688. No extras to pay for as this deal comes with free shipping. Check with your computer or motherboard manufacturer to see if you can upgrade your system to this processor. Same computer, more processing power!

OCZ Agility 2 Solid State Drive - 120GB

SAVE $60 – FREE SHIPPING – OCZ 120GB Agility 2 Solid State Drive Model OCZSSD2-2AGTE120G. This is a SATA II SSD (Solid State Drive) and that means no moving parts to break in this great new hard drive. 120 gigabytes for just $279.99* after $10 mail in rebate and COUPON CODE: CQM3682. No extras to pay for, free shipping included.

Samsung 25" LCD Monitor

SAVE $100 – FREE SHIPPING – Samsung 25″ ToC LCD Monitor w/ HDTV Tuner P2570HD 1080p 50000:1 DCR VGA/DVI/HDMI $279.99 after COUPON CODE: LFR3694. This is yet another free shipping item. A good sized LCD HDTV for your eat-in kitchen, the office, or the bedroom.

SAVE $50 – FREE SHIPPING – EVGA GeForce GTX 470 Video Card 012-P3-1470-AR – 1280MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 Dual DVI HDMI SLI DirectX 11 $299.99 after COUPON CODE: UKG3685. I said for the others, I’ll say it again, FREE SHIPPING included with this powerful add-on video card..

Get a Kickstand for your iPad

Robert Saunders — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:59:32 +0000

I don’t have an iPad, but I do have an old e-book reader, the eBookwise 1150 — which I’d like to replace sometime soon — which I use quite a bit when I’m eating alone or snacking. I like to do a little reading while I eat, and I’m often trying to find some combination of items I can use to prop it up at an angle so I can read comfortable. Oftentimes this results in me leaning it up against the napkin holder, while placing a small book or something else at the base to prevent it from sliding.

Maybe you’ve found yourself doing the same thing with your iPad?

Well, I was looking at the iPads and the iPad accessories over at MacMall.com, and I saw a couple of products that would work nicely for iPad owners.

One such product is the Kickstand Nylon Case by Incipio. It comes in three different colors: Light Gray (shown), Black, and Khaki/Tan. It’s constructed from rip-stop nylon with a microsuede lining on the inside to protect your investme—, er, iPad from scuffs and scratches. It acts as a book cover, as you can see, but it also has a kickstand design that allows you to prop it up for reading or video watching. (You forgot you can watch videos on it, didn’t you?)

As it is a book cover, it also comes with a magnetic latch to keep it closed when not in use. And, lest I forget, they cost only $22.99 each. Get one now and protect that iPad.

Free iPad — Is it worth it? (1)

When is an iPhone 4 not a phone?

Robert Saunders — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:21:50 +0000

A: When you’re left handed.

Surprisingly there is one big complaint about the new iPhone 4. If you make a call with the phone in your left hand you might not receive a cellular signal.

The redesign of the iPhone 4 moved the antenna to an external stainless steel band that wraps around the phone. A significant portion of this antenna band is on the left hand side of the phone. So when you hold the phone in your left hand, the flashy part of your palm below the thumb can significantly reduce or block the cellular signal needed to make a call.

How not to hold an iPhone 4 (Credit: Apple / Screenshot by Scott Ard/CNET)

Interestingly, at June’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs praised this antenna redesign as “brilliant engineering” and commented that it has never been done before. In a report on iPhone 4 signal issuesby cnet news’s Scott Ard mentions “some other companies may have considered a similar solution but backed off due to the attenuation caused when a person’s hand ‘covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band,’ as Apple put it”

He also points out that during Jobs’s demonstration he used WiFi instead of the AT&T cellular network. The Wifi signal portion of the antenna is higher up on the band, and less likely to be covered by your hand or fingers. Steve Jobs, himself, has a tendency to hold the iPhone in his left hand, so he may very well have been aware of the reception issue that would cause.

Now that word of the reception problem is spreading, word has it Apple suggests “not holding the phone in your left hand to make a call”. Or to use a case or bumpers that lift your hand off the edge of the phone. The bumpers from Apple cost $29. maybe Apple should send them out for free to iPhone 4 owners.

For more information on the signal reception problem with the iPhone 4see this report at AppleInsider.com.

Vote for Skylarking on the Long Island Blog Network (Updated)

Robert Saunders — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:14:00 +0000

I recently entered Skylarking in the Long Island Blog Network developed by Bruce Chamoff of Hot Web Ideas. You’ll find Skylarking in the technology blogs area with several other great Long Island Technology Blogs I’ve recently started following. Cruise or click on over and take a look. Specially if you are a Long Islander. (We have ways of tracking this.)

The Long Island Blog Network is currently taking votes to elect the best Long Island blogs. There are three categories you can vote on:

Most Unique and Exciting Blog
Most Quality Blog Articles
Most Practical Blog for Long Islanders

Take a look around and cast your vote. You can vote for each blog once a day, and they will tally the results at the end of June. (Correction: July)

And while you’re there, I hope you will cast a vote for Skylarking. I kind of like the “Most Quality Blog Articles” area.

DIY Green Screen Photography (Save 20% from Skylarking)

Robert Saunders — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:48:46 +0000

We’re all aware of the use of computers and blue-screens to add backgrounds in the movies and television shows we watch, and — thanks to low-cost digital computers and cameras — now anyone can add fantastic backgrounds to their own photos, and the key is Green Screen Wizard. This software is great for the hobbyist or the professional.

Green Screen Wizard is a software and photo package that makes it easy for you to do professional Green Screen Special Effects (also known as “ChromaKey Effects”) with your camera and computer. And, as they say, it’s as easy as 1-2-3:

Take a picture of someone against the provided 5′x7′ portable green screen backdrop
Transfer the picture to you computer
Match the picture to a provided background, and Green Screen Wizard does the rest.

Green Screen Test Drive. The basic trial package of Green Screen Wizard costs $79 for the next 4 days. But Skylarking readers can take 20% off ANY PURCHASE at GreenScreenWizard, where it’s easy to get started producing green screen effects for photography and video! Enter GSPP20JUNE during checkout.

The 20% off code expires on 6/30/10.

Green Screen Lite includes:

5×7 Popup Screen
20 Magazine Covers
120 Backgrounds in six collections

Upgrade. Maybe you’re a professional or semi-professional events photographer. If you decide you like the trial package and you want to do more, you can apply $50 from your trial package purchase towards an upgrade. The full package is available as a digital download for $99, or you can have the physical package shipped to you for about $170.

Their standalone photography software runs on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. They also sell Photoshop Plugins that run on Windows and Macintosh computers.

Pacman is 30 years old

Robert Saunders — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:29:13 +0000

Saturday, May 22, is the 30th anniversary of Pacman, and you can play it for the next 48 hours at www.google.com. Just click the “Insert Coin” button once to start a single player game, or click it twice to start a two player game.

Pac-Man (パックマン, Pakkuman?) is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular in the United States from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is universally considered as one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of the 1980s popular culture. Upon its release, the game—and, subsequently, its derivatives—became a social phenomenon that sold a bevy of merchandise and also inspired, among other things, an animated television series and a top-ten hit single. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man)

Of course you can play Pacman online any day of the week at www.freepacman.org.

2011 – Death of the Floppy Disk

Robert Saunders — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:17:46 +0000

Yes, you can still buy them here and there, but the end is near for the ol’ 3.5 inch floppy disk.

Several bloggers, such as Long Island’s own Dave Daniels at DaveDaniels.com are heralding the death of the floppy disk when, in March 2011, after 30 years, Sony will officially stop making them.

The 3.5 inch floppy isn’t happy, but it’s going to make the best of it. You can find out what the floppy disk has to say about retirement in an interview published at esarcasm.com.

The ever-popular CruchGear.com reports, briefly, on how the floppy disk has fared since its sales peaked back in 1995. Should have seen it coming when they stopped making floppy disk drives back in September 2009, but then again, who has seen a new computer with a floppy drive lately?

Beginning of the end. Back in 2005 the floppy disk drive became optional on many new computers. Rewriteable CDs (ca. 1997) and DVDs (ca. 1999) where fairly common by then, and the USB thumb or Flash drive was becoming very affordable, too.

Too little, too much. Economically the floppy disk didn’t make sense either. You would need close to 700 floppy disks at a cost of $530 to match the storage capacity of a $10 or $20 USB Flash Drive (1 GB) — which is smaller than a pack of gum. $154 worth of floppies would be needed to match a $7 Flash Drive. (Prices do vary widely for USB drives. Better drives could be purchased for the same $7 or $20.)

Longevity. On average a floppy disk had a lifespan of 9 months, if you treated it well, and didn’t use it too often. The data wouldn’t completely disappear, but some data loss would be evident on a large file.

Meanwhile I have a Flash drive I bought about 7 years ago (shown at right) which I once found at the bottom of a washing machine after a spin cycle; and it worked. Later, I forgot it was in the front of my computer when I bumped into and bent it; and it’s still working today.

Pioneer Plans To Launch Blu-ray Recorders (0)

Thinning out the Inbox

Robert Saunders — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:15:47 +0000

On April 30 I posted an article Make May Day “Unwanted Email Unsubscribe Day” with tips on clearing your Inbox of unwanted email — not spam, but subscriptions you signed up for, but no longer had an interest in. The article was well received and it received a few comments, too. (Surprisingly I received a lot of email about it).

One great comment came from David Bondelevitch at dB’s Blog, who said:

Not just the inbox; every once in a while I will run a search in my trash for the word UNSUBSCRIBE and click on most of them.

Be careful though, some e-mails use that link to phish, and all you are doing is confirming to them that it is a functional e-mail address.

Today, I am still thinning out the Inbox and unsubscribing to several emails.

I am also updating my subscriptions, too. Some of the email addresses I subscribed with are addresses I’m not interested in using as much as I used to. So in some cases I am going back the original signup web site and updating my subscription details.

Some of the companies I receive mail from have taken this into consideration, and they’ve included a “Update your Preferences” link at the bottom of the email. Some other haven’t prepared for this possibility. In extreme cases, I have had to unsubscribe one address and resubscribe with another.

So keeping the Inbox thin is just like keeping yourself thin. The work never ends, it’s an ongoing process.

Make May Day “Unwanted Email Unsubscribe Day”

3D HDTV Available Now

Robert Saunders — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:37:34 +0000

At the beginning of this year, 3D TVs and 3D Blu-ray players started appearing in the marketplace. 3D TVs aren’t a new type of TV, it’s just a new ‘feature’ found on some of the newer HDTVs. 3D TVs function like any other HDTV, but when 3D content is detected — either through a 3D Blu-ray player or through a TV broadcast signal — then it can be set into 3D mode. Some sets can even convert regular 2D content into 3D.

One new 3D HDTV is Samsung’s UN46C8000. This is a 46-inch 3D LED HDTV, and it produces a full high-definition image with 1080p resolution. The June 2010 issue of Consumer Reports gave it a very favorable review, and complimented it on its “excellent picture detail and satisfying colors and contrast with 3D and regular HD content”. TigerDirect sells the Samsung UN46C8000 for $2,520 after $280 instant savings.

3D Glasses. As with 3D in the theaters, these 3D HDTVs require you to wear special glasses, and you currently need to get the glasses from the TV manufacturer. For example, if you had a Panasonic 3D HDTV, you would need 3D glasses from Panasonic; and a Samsung 3D HDTV owner would need 3D glasses from Samsung. The glasses are not interchangeable with other manufacturers sets.

The 3D glasses use a “high-speed shutter” system in the lens. Some of the glasses are battery powered, while the others are rechargeable. Consumer Reports compared the Samsung UN46C8000 against the Panasonic TC-P50VT20 3D HDTV, and they found that Samsung’s glasses were “lighter and more comfortable than the Panasonic’s.” Samsung’s SSG2200AR 3D Glasses (shown above) are rechargeable and are sold separately for $199. The children’s rechargeable 3D glasses sell for $179.

3D Content. Of course to appreciate the 3D imagery, you’ll need some 3D television content or a 3D Blu-ray player. There have been a few 3D programs available from Cablevison and Comcast, and ESPN and DirecTV are expected to offer 3D content next month. Discovery channel also plans on launching a 3D network soon.

3D Blu-ray disc players are interchangeable, so a Sony 3D Blu-ray disc player will work with any other 3D HDTV. Two current 3D Blu-ray disc players are:

The Sony BDPS570 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with BRAVIA Internet Video, built-in Wi-Fi for $250.
The Samsung BD-C6900 3D Blu-Ray Player which also has built-in Wi-Fi and can convert 2D movies to 3D for $360.

Both units allow you to view Internet content on your television by utlizing your home wireless network, so you can watch video from Netflix, YouTube and others on your TV.

3D Quickstart. If you want to get started quickly with a 3D HDTV and Blu-ray player setup, you can get a Samsung UN46C8000 46″ Class 3D LED HDTV and Samsung BD-C6900 3D Blu-Ray Player and Samsung SSG-P2100T 3D Starter Kit Bundle for $2,889 after a $659 instant savings from TigerDirect. The ‘Starter Kit Bundle’ comes with 2 3D Active Glasses and a Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Blu-ray movie disc.

Make May Day “Unwanted Email Unsubscribe Day”

Robert Saunders — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:12:58 +0000

I get way too much email. The bulk of my email isn’t even personal messages, but mostly bulk email messages from newsletter subscriptions, web site and online shopping offers, fan site updates, business networking updates, social networking updates, Twitter alerts, Facebook notices, etc.

I’ve been getting so many of these that the personal and direct business emails have been getting lost under it all in my Inbox. On top of that, my mail files has become so large that the file became corrupted, and I wasn’t able to delete some messages.

Usually I spend a little bit of time one or two days a week just going through my mail sorting and deleting. It gets hard to keep up with it all, and I am still missing important messages.

I finally concluded: “the best thing to do is to reduce the amount of email I receive”.

So the first of May is tomorrow. Often referred to as May Day, which reminds me of the distress call “Mayday!”. I have made this the day, starting today, that I sit down with my email, take a good look at these bulk mail messages, and I UNSUBSCRIBE to them.

Here’s what I did:

In my Inbox I clicked the top of the column where it says “From”. This sorts all my mail into groups of people and organizations.
Then I scroll through the list looking for the biggest groups. These probably send to me every single day of the week.
If I don’t want to see their emails again, I open one and scroll down to the bottom to find the UNSUBSCRIBE link. Bulk mailers are supposed to include an unsubscribe link.
I click the link, which takes me to their web site where I am clearly offered an option to UNSUBSCRIBE, or they notify me that I will no longer receive their emails. (They have 10 days to comply according to the FTC).
After I’ve unsubscribed I close the email message, and then I delete all the other messages in that group.

So save yourself, your Inbox, and your sanity, and make today your Email Unsubscribe Day!

Work 52 percent faster with a 24 inch monitor

Robert Saunders — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:59:18 +0000

I was reading an exclusive survey article “Get the Most Out of Your Home” in the April 2010 issue of Money magazine. When discussing the home office they reported:

Researchers at the University of Utah have found that people using 24-inch computer screens worked 52% faster than those using 18-inchers when doing tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets.

They went on to suggest that you get one for as little as $199, but I’ve found a couple of nice refurbished 23 and 24 inch monitors at TigerDirect for $160 to $170, and a new 23-inch for $190. No extra charge for shipping.

Dell 23 inch Widescreen Full HD LCD Monitor (Refurbished Dell S2309W)

This monitor is not only useful for standard home office work and study, but it is also great for viewing movies and photos, playing games, or even editing video. I checked one out in person and found the images had great lifelike detail and brilliant vivid colors. its typical high contrast ratio of 1000:1 delivers deep blacks and stark whites. It’s DVI-D connector lets you view high-definition multimedia content from Blu-ray Disc drives on desktops and notebooks. It also has a standard VGA connector for use on older computers. Its sleek, glossy bezel (thats the frame around the screen) fits in beautifully in any decor. Plus the tilt-adjustable panel lets you position the display to a comfortable viewing angle. Buy a refurbished Dell S2309W with free shipping for $160 at Tigerdirect.

Acer 24 inch Widescreen HD LCD Monitor (Refurbished Acer P244WBD)

The Acer P244WBD 24″ Widescreen Monitor compares very well to the Dell model above, and your getting the full 24 inch HD image here. It, too, has a stylish sheer glossy black bezel that’ll look beautiful on your desktop. I felt the blacks were even deeper on this monitor and some scans of some old black and white photos I had look exceptionally good. They didn’t have the blue or greent tint that I often see on other color monitors. Buy a refurbished Acer P244 WBD 24 inch HD LCD monitor at Tigerdirect for only $170.

Viewsonic 23 inch Widescreen LCD HD Monitor (New! Viewsonic VA2323wm)

You can get greater productivity with this 23 inch widescreen LCD HD monitor from Viewsonic. It’s large enough to view two full sized documents, side-by-side onscreen. Or you can have 2 or more programs visible onscreen simultaneously. The VA2323wm is competitively priced, and includes two hidden stereo speakers.

It only costs $190 to get this new Viewsonic 23 inch widescreen HD LCD monitor from TigerDirect.

Skylarking

Good Advice from SM Business Solutions

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Make May Day “Unwanted Email Unsubscribe Day”

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