The Geek Magnet

Earthships: Sustainable Homes of The Future

2010-12-23T13:21:00.018-06:00

Earthships can be found almost everywhere in the world ranging from one bedroom studios to million dollar mansions. Their creator, Mike Reynolds, has been designing them for over 4 decades following these six principles:

Solar / Thermal heating and cooling

Due to the thermal wrap on the Earthship, it requires little to no outside heating or cooling than the sunlight and shade. This enables the Earthship to produce a comfortable living area almost anywhere in the world. Passive ventilation allows for air exchange.

Solar and wind generated electricity

Solar panels line parts of the roof and charge batteries in order to provide electricity to the vessel. The question of a cloudy day instantly comes to mind but a wind turbine generally picks up the slack. As for those days with no sun and no wind, one can either tie into the grid for backup, just in case, or you could just enjoy the day with what battery power you got and read a book in the garden by the window or something.

Water harvesting

Earthships catch rain and snow melt on the potable surface roof for water. The water runs down silt catches and into a cistern where the water is filtered and pumped into a pressure tank for household water pressure. The water is heated via solar water heater with some owners sometimes using propane as backup if the water isn't hot enough for their liking. Earthships use their water four times. The water is still used conventionally like in bathing and washing clothes and dishes but the toilet is different. It gets used once then sent to an interior botanical cell where it will be used again to feed your plants while the plants clean the water. The Third use is the toilet flush. After the toilet flush, the water contained and treated then sent to an outside botanical cells.

Food Production

The sunlight, coming through the windows, allows the Earthship to also grow its own food like pineapple, bananas, and cucumbers. Furthermore, the plants growing indoors creates a natural air purifier filling the house with a fresh smell.

Contained Sewage Treatment

Earthships contain and treat all their own sewage.

Recycled Materials

Earthships use glass bottle and cans to fill non load bearing walls, earth rammed tires rammed to create the supporting wall as well as many other recycled materials.

The recent recession created an unsure living situation for many conventional homeowners but not so much for Earthship owners because Earthships cost about the same as regular housing but doesn't come with all the water and electrical needed. One can also apply the six principles to modern housing, called retrofitting, in order to help with utility bills, food, and water cost.

With water and fossil fuels being a limited resources, its only smart to conserve as much as we can. Earthships are stronger, more reliable, and even safer, for both the owners and the earth, then conventional housing.

To learn more about Earthships visit http://www.earthship.com/

New app for iPhone and Google Android could make texting a thing of the past...

2010-12-23T01:53:00.004-06:00

Let's face it, people are on their phones all day and night and with the smart phone market exploding they are becoming more and more readily available to the general population. Smart phones like the Apple iPhone have always been popular, and with Google's Android becoming more refined and mature, people having apps (small programs that add features) on their phones is much more common. Recently though a new app has hit the market and it's name... HeyTell.

HeyTell is a simple concept. Why type out a message when you can just press down an on-screen button and talk to anyone on your contact list with an instant voice message? HeyTell makes it easy to keep in contact with people with quick voice messages instead of long typed out text. HeyTell offers a few nice features like being able to send your location to friends quickly during a conversation, and inviting other friends to send you voice messages by standard text message.

Another interesting fact about HeyTell is that it does all of it's work over an internet connection. This means that it will never cost you any minutes to talk to friends. Most all smart phone plans come with an unlimited data package so you can send all of the free HeyTell voice messages you want! It is available on both the Apple App Store and Google's Android Market free of charge.

Go try it out! Available for both Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market.

You can also watch a video of HeyTell in action on their official site here.

How do you use the HeyTell app on your phone? Please leave your comments below.

Rare Lunar Eclipse and Meteor Shower Tonight

2010-12-20T20:31:00.005-06:00

Tonight is history in the making. With a lunar eclipse that has only occurred once in the last 2000 years (1638 a.d) and a meteor shower to complement it, the fact that it just so happens to be on the night of the winter solstice makes this astronomical event a spectacle to be seen. According to NASA:

“This lunar eclipse falls on the date of the northern winter solstice. How rare is that? Total lunar eclipses in northern winter are fairly common. There have been three of them in the past ten years alone. A lunar eclipse smack-dab on the date of the solstice, however, is unusual. Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years.

“Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21,” says Chester. “Fortunately we won’t have to wait 372 years for the next one…that will be on 2094 DEC 21.”

Sadly enough, due to possible cloud issues, some people may not get to enjoy these rare astronomical events so NASA will streaming live video of the eclipse, recorded from the Marshall Space Flight Center.

http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/lunar_eclipse.html

Try Qumana! The Desktop Blogging Editor that will take you to the next level.

2010-12-20T14:59:00.006-06:00

So today I was wondering... How could I publish to all of my blogs from within one universal interface, instead of having to actually go to every web server my blogs are hosted at and log in to make new posts? The solution? Desktop blogging software.

After doing a few google searches for a good freeware desktop blogging software that would run on my MacBook Pro and Qumana is what I found.

Qumana claims to be an easy-to-use desktop blog editor that allows you to write all of your blog posts in a sort of wordprocessor like user interface and also save local copies of them to your computer's hard drive. It can also post to any of your blogs, even if they are on different blog accounts or servers.

Shortly after downloading, I began taking Qumana for a quick test drive and this post was my result.

Setting up:
As soon as you start the application you are greeted with a simple, user-friendly "Add blog wizard." Simply type in your blog's web address and click next. Qumana will attempt to get the information necessary to connect to your blog automatically. In my case I was using the free blogging service by Google, Blogger. Qumana had no trouble finding my blog and getting the proper connection settings from the server. Next, I simply entered in my login and password information and clicked finish. Once you have your blog added to the Blog Manager you can begin to start making posts by selecting the blog that you want to begin posting to and clicking the "New Post" button in the upper left corner of the window.

Posting to a blog:
I was very pleased with the simplicity, ease-of-use, and functionality of the Post Editor. It almost seemed like a cross between a basic WYSIWYG HTML editor and a formatted text editor. It offers spell check and text and image formatting which makes writing new posts for your blog and formatting them to your liking quick and easy. Once you have your page looking the way you like it just click the "Publish Post" button next to "New Post" and you're done!

Placing Ads:
A nice feature for advertisers is being able to insert advertising into a post with a custom user interface you can use to configure individual ads and their placement within your pages. Simply sign up for an advertiser account with Qumana's Q-Ads and you can then place custom ads anywhere on your blog.

Cross Posting:
Another great feature is being able to publish a post on your blog and then be able to repost it to any other blog too. This helps eliminate the hastle dealing with multiple blogging accounts or servers and having to sign-in to each individual one just to make the same posts.

Although these are only a few, Qumana offers many more outstanding features to bloggers and I am quickly beginning to see the usefulness of the application. If you haven't already, I highly reccomend you stop by Qumana.com and have a closer look.

Thank you for reading and please feel free to ask any questions or leave comments about how Qumana has helped you with your blog in the comments section below this article. Remember, you can subscribe to this blog by email or RSS so you won't miss out on any future posts or updates!

Powered by Qumana

So why is this blog called The Geek Magnet anyway?

2010-12-19T13:06:00.002-06:00

The Geek Magnet is an online technology blog where people can get the latest scoop on new technology dealing with computers, video games, software programs, the internet, and much more. The name is actually a simple concept. News for geeks and good content to keeps people coming back for more, hence the "magnet" part of the name

Technology is an ever-changing topic that is full of diversity in this day and age. You might buy a brand new computer and then two months down the road the next best thing is already on the shelves at your nearest Best Buy of Fry's Electronics stores. Computers have been improving over the years at literally an astronomical rate! Just think about it for a second... How many commercials have you seen on TV this week advertising the newest HP Laptop or Dell Desktop? If you haven't had a chance to watch lately let me just go ahead and tell you that they're everywhere. The computers, the game systems, the Blu-Ray disc players, they are all evolving and if you don't stay informed about these products the next technology wave could wash over you and have you completely lost. That is why we're here. To do the hard work so that you don't have to. We will be out reviewing the latest gadgets for you and testing out the next "best" software program to let you know what to expect before you go out and spend hard earned money on something you're not actually sure about.

Although this blog is still in it's very beginning stages of development, we strongly encourage new visitors to subscribe to our RSS feeds and share us with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to stay up to date on what is posted here.

Please feel free to leave your comments on these posts, and thanks for taking the time to visit!

New Mobile Internet Technology Is Sweeping The Nation.

2010-12-19T07:15:00.005-06:00

So your out and about in your daily life and need an internet connection but wait there's no local Starbucks or Barnes and Noble and you haven't broke down to buy the iPhone 4 with built in 3G yet. So what do you do? Don't know? Well your in luck because there is a new technology slowly sweeping the nation and its called 4G WiMAX. Clear provides 4G WiMAX coverage to over 50 major US cities averaging 3 to 6 mbps download speeds with up to 10 mbps bursts. They offer both monthly and 2 year contracts with unlimited data usage. Clear offers sleek and stylish modems for home use, mini laptops usb modems, and a personal mobile WiFi hot-spots called the Clear spot.

Rover is an addition to the Clear service, providing the user with a "puck" that allows for up to 8 users to connect to a private connection and set up wireless security features to prevent other unauthorized users from accessing your network. Not to mention it will fit in your back pocket! With up to four hours battery life, you will be set for keeping up to 8 devices connected anywhere you go.

Is iPhone blog posting really the future?

2010-12-18T10:52:00.002-06:00

Think about that question for a minute... What if you could post to your blog anywhere? Yeah yeah I know what you're going to say, I have my fancy MacBook pro with wifi and I can already blog anywhere. Well that's true to an extent but isn't quick 3G service and the ability to just pull your iPhone out of your pocket and post to your blog right when an idea comes to mind worth thinking about? Maybe it's overkill or maybe it's not but with the new blogging app for iPhone it sure does make life easier!

A few tips you can use to keep your computer running fast!

2010-12-18T05:42:00.002-06:00

Here are a few tips to keep your computer running fast.

1. Keep your desktop and hard drive clean.

Is your computer desktop your virtual dumping group? Saving files or lots of shortcuts on your computer's desktop will use more memory from the computer. It's alright to keep a few commonly used items here but don't make a habit of just saving all of your work on the Desktop. If you're the type of person that deals with a lot of documents or files on a regular basis, create a temporary folder to work in, instead of just using the desktop.

If you like downloading lots of software, videos or music, make sure you clean up after yourself. Leaving setup programs or files on your hard disk that probably won't be used again just wastes valuable disk space. Also, don't let the recycle bin or temporary file folders fill up your hard disk. If disk space gets too low for any of these reasons, errors and problems are sure to follow.

It's easy to clean out your recycle bin and various temporary file folders, using Window's build in "Disk Cleanup" utility. Open the "Disk Cleanup" utility by clicking:

Start - > All Programs - > Accessories - > System Tools - > Disk Cleanup

The tool is very easy to use; simply check the boxes next to the categories of files you would like to remove from your computer. The "Compress Old Files" option is only meant to save disk space if a drive is running extremely low, but for this option, that extra saved space is traded for slower performance.

2. Don't forget to defragment your hard drive.

The way your computer stores files to the hard disk is a lot less pretty than what you see in your file browser. The Windows operating system translates the digital mess of what is actually recorded on your hard disk so you can understand it.The hard drive is read and written to in a sequences and references instead of the directory tree structure you may be familiar with.

Over time, constant reads and writes to the hard disk cause the data to be organized less and less efficiently. For example, a digital photo you have saved may be split up into a dozen or more segments on the disk and an instruction set for associating and locating those pieces. Even files that your computer needs access to very frequently may be stored on parts of the disk that are the slowest to read, while some other file you'll probably never even look at again is on the fastest part of the disk. When your hard disk gets all out of order like this it is said to be fragmented, and your computer will suffer from a loss of performance.

Fortunately, this can be fixed. Windows has a built in tool for defragmenting your hard drive here.

Start - > Programs - > Accessories - > System Tools - > Disk Defragmenter

The program is very easy to use and can help clear up the fragmentation. All you have to do is click the "Defragment" button and let it go. The time this process takes to complete depends on how bad the hard disk is fragmented. If you have never "defragged" your hard disk before, you will probably see improvement in your computers performance as soon as the process is complete.

Remember to delete all the files you need to delete and do your cleaning before you defrag. It is pointless to deframent files that you are just going to delete anyways, as this could add a considerable amount of time to the defragging process.

You can also defragment as often as you like. Keeping the fragmentation on your hard drive low will help your computer perform better and will reduce the time needed for future defragmenting.

The Windows tool works but I prefer the free program Defraggler. Next time you defragment your hard drive give Defraggler a try!

3. Keep viruses and unwanted software off your computer.

If you have an Internet connection, it's just too easy to come into contact with viruses. Some viruses slow your computer down. Some may corrupt your files, while others can completely destroy your software and render the machine virtually useless. It is important that you keep your computer equipped with updated anti-virus software. There are many to choose from, but Avast! and Avira are some of the best free ones for personal use.

Always make sure you keep the anti-virus software's "definitions" up to date. Virus definitions let anti-virus software distinguish known viruses from other software. New virus threats are created every day, so it's important for your anti-virus to regularly update these definitions.

Viruses aren't the only internet threats that can plague your computer experience. There are two other groups of software that can cause many headaches... adware and spyware. These types of software aren't technically considered viruses because their purpose is not purely malicious. Adware advertises products and services to you through your computer. Spyware captures information and transmits it to a 3rd party. Obviously, you do not want any of this software on your computer, as it can invade your privacy and degrade your computer's performance.

Some anti-virus software packages are bundled with anti-spyware software. Other programs are just designed to remove adware and spyware. However, just like the anti-virus software, these detection and removal tools need to be kept up to date to be effective.

Is your hard drive on its way to failure?

2010-12-18T04:25:00.004-06:00

Imagine this scenario: You get home, start up your computer, and head into the kitchen to grab a drink as it boots up. Everything seems normal just like any other day until you are suddenly greeted the Blue Screen of Death!

If you're not familiar with the dreaded BSOD infamously presented by the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems then let me clarify... It's bad. Something has caused a serious error and the only thing left for the computer to do is shut down. This can be caused by a hard drive failure. Sometimes a simple reboot is all it takes to fix many problems but once the hard drive has failed there may only be a few options left to potentially save your precious data.

Think of the hard drive as a sort of long-term memory for your computer. Files and folders are saved to the hard drive and stored for later use. Your hard drive stores all of your computer's information including your files and programs. Hard drives actually have spinning platters and a read head similar to a record player with an arm and a needle. Moving parts like these can be very delicate and wear out over time leading to eventual failure and loss of data.

In the event that you suspect your computer's hard drive has failed, don't try to use system restore or reinstall your operating system (Windows) because doing so can actually cause more harm in the current situation than good and WILL NOT fix the problem. Don't try to fix a problem like this yourself unless you are experienced and know what you are doing. You can very easily loose all of your precious photos, documents, programs, and music.

The best thing to do in a hard drive failure situation is to make an image of the drive as soon as possible onto another working hard drive or some other type of storage device. Basically this is a special type of copy where everything is placed into one large file or several smaller files that represent the contents of the hard drive. There are many good software programs for imaging hard drives such as Norton Ghost and Macrium Reflect. Once you have created an image of the failing hard drive you can use it to restore your data onto a new hard drive. Many times this can solve the problem and rescue even your installed programs.

Beware though. A hard drive failure may only be the beginning of more underlying problems. It is a good idea to get a professional computer diagnosis after a major hardware failure like this as it can save you much time and hassle in the long run.

Tips on Maintaining a Secure Computer

2010-12-18T03:44:00.014-06:00

These days, with computers and technology advancing by leaps and bounds, its not uncommon for most people to have a virus or two. Even though the internet is responsible for most viruses, removable hardware such as Ipods, cell phones, and flash drives can easily infect your computer and other forms of technology. It's almost impossible to be without risk of catching viruses or other forms of malware but, with this bit of information, you too can be more safe while using your computer.

1. Run frequent Malware scans. Get a Program such as Malwarebytes' AntiMalware. There are countless forms of malware like Adware, Spyware, Crimeware, Rootkits, Worms, and Trojans, all of which are detrimental to your computers health and your security.

2.Run a Spyware scanner like Spybot Search & Destroy. Spyware is malware installed on your computer for the purpose of spying on you in order to collect bits of information like personal information needed for identity theft and web surfing habits for advertising.

3. Run a good antivirus scanner. Avast! is a free scanner that works well.

4. Disable JavaScript. Most questionable sites that will infect your computer exploit JavaScript.

5. Use WPA wireless encryption instead of WEP. WEP is easily crackable to professionals.

6. Use the different passwords for different sites. If a hacker gets your password and all your accounts use the same password, then the hacker has access to your whole life such as bank accounts, emails, and social networking sites.

7. Disable AutoRun. Removable disk such as Ipods, Iphones, and flash drives can be infected and, when plugged into your computer, could possibly automatically infect your computer.

8. Enable Your Firewalls. Even though not failsafe, enabling your firewalls can help to reduce the number of threats your computer is vulnerable to.

9. Last but not least, be aware of the info you give out over the internet. Don't give out sensitive info that can be used for fraud and other illegal activities. This point cannot be stressed enough. If a sight appears fishy you should leave it immediately. Highly reputable sights should never ask for anything that they didn't need.

With the tips in mind, you can now become more safe both on and off the internet.

So on Dec. 17, 2010 a blog called "The Geek Magnet" was born...

2010-12-17T11:19:00.004-06:00

It's about 11:22 am where I'm at right now and well... I still haven't been to sleep yet. Call me an insomniac or whatever but this is my reasoning. Technology.

Yes. That 10 letter word... Technology. Computers, iPhones, TV, the internet. It's all here and it keeps providing us endless amounts of information, entertainment, media, everything!

So why am I still awake and blaming it on technology? Because I wanted to create this blog.

The modern age is constantly changing and so is it's technology. New devices and services are coming to the surface and people learn more and more every day. My goal here is to provide some insights into the new world of technology and share that knowledge between people.

That's why I created "The Geek Magnet." A blog for discovering technology.

Check back and subscribe as I will be actively updating. Everyone's feedback is greatly appreciated.