STEVE JOBS, RIP

From Walt Mossberg of the WSJ:

"That Steve Jobs was a genius, a giant influence on multiple industries and billions of lives, has been written many times since he retired as Apple's chief executive in August. He was a historical figure on the scale of a Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, and set the mold for many other corporate leaders in many other industries."

Read more here

A little humor

On the lighter side!

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?

Customer: A white one.

Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen.

Customer: Your left or my left?

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Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find  printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it..

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Tech   support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?

Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.

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Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.

Tech   support: Are you sure it's plugged into the  computer?

Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.

Tech   support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces  back.

Customer:   OK! !

Tech  support: Did the keyboard come with you?

Customer: Yes

Tech  support: That means the keyboard is not plugged  in.

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Customer: I can't get on the Internet.

Tech support: Are you sure you used the right  password?

Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.

Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?

Customer: Five dots.

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Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?

Customer: Netscape.

Tech  support: That's not an anti-virus program.

Customer: Oh, sorry... Internet Explorer.

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Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it  disappears.

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Tech  support: How may I help you?

Customer: I'm writing my first email.

Tech  support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?

Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get  the little circle around it?

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A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.

Tech  support: Are you running it under windows?

Customer: 'No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point.  The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is  working fine.'

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Tech   support: 'Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager.'

Customer: I don't have a P.

Tech   support: On your keyboard, Bob.

Customer: What do you mean?

Tech  support: 'P'.....on  your keyboard, Bob.

Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT! 

Kindle Fire vs. iPad: Which is right for you?

This is a very well done piece comparing the 2 products. A significant point about the Fire is that the reporters did not have any hands-on time with the Fire, so I'd wait to see how it looks and feels up close first. In the meantime, however, this article covers very well what is known at this point in time. From cnn.com:

"(CNN) -- With Amazon unveiling its much-anticipated Kindle Fire tablet computer Wednesday, we may finally have a real tablet war on our hands.

In the nearly 18 months since the iPad went on sale, tablet rivals have come and gone. But Apple's device has remained dominant.

Amazon's new entry, though, might be different. Instead of crafting an iPad carbon copy and asking consumers to choose between them, they've pushed out a stripped-down and simplified device that sells for much less than the iPad 2 while skimping on some of that tablet's features.

If you're in the market for a tablet, though, here's the real question: Which one, if either, is right for you?"

Kindle Fire vs. iPad: Which is right for you?

Everything You Need to Know About the New Facebook

Timely. 

Everything You Need to Know About the New Facebook

Mac Days

I am getting pretty good at using my MacBook Pro 17. I have had to, because my 2 Acer laptops have develped hardware issues, and they are just too darned expensive to get fixed these days. They are darn near disposables, meaning to me that I can buy a new one for less than it costs to have one repaired. That is, of course, a good news/bad news situation. These days I feel lucky to have one working computer. And I have 2 now. I have switched to exclusive use of the Mac for day to day needs. I have found that between it and my old IBM desktop (still going pretty strong), I have all I need. It took quite a long time for me to decide where I wanted to keep my data. I mean which machine would be the primary site. I decided to make my desktop the primary, even though I use it far less than the Mac. The portability of the Mac makes it far easier to use. I can lug it around (it is NOT light) wherever I go, and I am on the go a lot.

I am trying out SOS Online Backup services. I am not yet convinced that it will work for me, but I remain hopeful. I also copy all of my data to my 1TB Western Digital MyBook on a quarterly basis. The size of "My Documents" folder is 94 GB, and it consists mainly of videos (my Flip camera takes them), music, and photos (around 40,000 photos at last count).

My IBM desktop runs Windows XP so I will try to keep it going through 2014, the last days of XP.

I am also changing the way I feel about the need for these darn boat anchors. I just told a customer, who is expecting an iPad for her birthday, that I thought she'd never return to her laptop. Like so many others out there, e-mailing and browsing the web is about all these heavy duty laptops and desktops are used for. Compare them to a tablet like the iPad and the tablet wins hands down.

Just some food for thought on a Friday afternoon. Good weekends all.

I haven't heard of some of these, but it's interesting to me that there are so many FREE alternatives to MS Office. This is found on the techilicious.com web site.

Seven Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office

I have put off doing this, but I now think it's a must these days. I am hopeful that this article will help me in my attempt to come up with a useful FB Page. I suspect the problem will be that every small (and large) business is doing the same and it will be a quagmire out there in FB-world.

I found this on pcworld.com. I hope it may prove useful to some of you.

How to Make a Facebook Page for Your Small Business

What's New in Microsoft Surface Version Two

Wow! Here's something I have not heard of before. This is pretty cool and I could see it as being quite useful for lots of applications.

This comes from Maximum PC.

"Posted 09/15/2011 at 12:35pm | by Seamus Bellamy

In the world of tech, concepts come and go faster than poop through a goose. Sadly, some ideas with great potential fade into the realm of vapourware, or see their prime features rolled into already existing products. Worse than this, hardware and software that smacked of half-baked failure from the get-go are routinely green-lit by manufactures to be released on an unsuspecting, and soon to be frustrated, public.

There are however, some concepts that both innovate and thrill those fortunate enough to experience them. Should these concepts be nurtured out of prototyping and released into the wild, wooly realm of the consumer, they stand a chance to change the way that we interact with our world on a daily basis. The Personal Computer is one such product. So too, whether you like it or not, was the iPad: While other tablets may have been around before hand, none had ever managed to capture the public’s imagination or hard earned money in such a manner as to make it an ubiquitous part of our every day lives.

While it may be coming in well under the radar, we’ve got a feeling that as it crops up in more and more locations over the next few years, the latest version of Microsoft Surface could have what it takes to be the next piece of computing technology to change the way we work, shop and live on a daily basis."

Read the entire article here

"Call That Girl", a blog I have often referred to, is running a series of posts covering Microsoft's Outlook, a very solid, stable, rich e-mail processing program. Outlook is a part of Microsoft Office, the suite of programs that has been available for many years. I have used Outlook as my e-mail of choice for several years, and most companies use Outlook, so it's familiar to many home users as well.

Lisa's first post is quoted below in part and I have provided a link to the rest of it. I encourage all of you Outlook users to check this one out, and if you think the series will be helpful to you, bookmark the web site and check for future posts.

Posted by callthatgirl on September 14, 2011

"Welcome to my Outlook FYI series of blogs. We will be covering these topics in a series as there is just way too much information to handle in one blog. I felt that these FYI’s were important to discuss because so many people use Outlook every day, for so many things. And Outlook is just not for email anymore. I also apologize, there are no “How to” in my blogs, just FYI’s. This blog will just explain things hopefully better for you to understand.

Many of us use Outlook in our everyday computing needs. It’s a wonderful tool, but very misunderstood by the common user. And maybe by some not so common people. Many of us are really married to it and I am all for it because it’s been my favorite software program since 2000, but it can be tricky and problematic."

Things That You Should Know About Outlook That Microsoft Doesn’t Tell You

This is an enlightening Tip of the Day from Kim Komando, especially for those of you who do not yet own a tablet (that'd be me) but may be interested in owning one (that'd be me too).

The future of tablets

Live From Microsoft's Windows 8 Keynote at BUILD

From a PCMag.com article:

"Microsoft’s BUILD developer’s conference kicks off today with a keynote that’s expected to focus on the next version of the company’s core software, Windows 8. The event starts at 12 noon Eastern (9 a.m. Pacific), and PCMag is covering the event live—scroll down to read our up-to-the-second coverage and take part in the discussion.


Of course, Windows 8 is still just a code name—no one knows what Microsoft may end up calling the new operating system when it’s released to the public next year, but we do know that it’s going to be a major revamp aimed at getting Windows to work on as many devices as possible.

Chief among those devices: tablets. Since Windows 7 came out, Microsoft has seen Apple’s iPad completely change the market of personal computers. The iPad has hanged what people think of as a computer, and what they expect from one (though it’s apparently not to blame for dipping PC sales). So far, though, no other tablet device has come close to challenging the iPad."

 Live From Microsoft's Windows 8 Keynote at BUILD

64 GB Flash Drive

I am not the type who just has to have the latest and greatest. I might be that type if I had the money!  But I felt I needed this high capacity flash drive because frequently I help people salvage data from a damaged hard drive or an uncooperative system.   "My Documents", for example, is itself 94 GB. It turns out there is a 128 GB flash drive available and soon I think we'll see 256 GB and on and on. However, these newer high density devices are rather costly. I found that at $69 this new gadget is affordable and I have a need, so I got it.

Lest we forget, my first PC back in 1981 had 32 KB of RAM. Yes, KB! We have come a long way.

Corporate America to Microsoft: We'll Pass on Windows 8

I can certainly understand why corporate America would feel this way. It is an incredibly large undertaking to convert thousands upon thousands of computers from one operating system to another, and many companies are just deciding or have already decided, and perhaps even started or finished their conversions, to go to Windows 7 from their rock steady Windows XP machines.
 

Corp. America to Microsoft: We'll Pass on Windows 8

Keep your PC clean with Microsoft Security Essentials

Regular readers of this blog know that I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). It is an excellent and free anti-virus program. There is no need to spend money on Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, or any other, and I can assure you MSE is as good as or better than most all of the other free anti-viruses. Who knows more about Microsoft operating systems than Microsoft itself? I'd suggest "no one" is a good guess at the answer, so it stands to reason, to me anyway, that I'd want the people who know the system I am using to be my anti-virus program provider, and did I already say MSE is FREE? :-)

My recommended security baseline includes all free programs including MSE. Check it out at PC Doc's Security Baseline.

from worldstart.com by Yogesh Bakshi: Keep your PC clean with Microsoft Security Essentials

September HOSTS file available now

I hope you are using the MVPS HOSTS file on your system(s). The latest version is now available.




The MVPS HOSTS file was recently updated [September-05-2011]
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Download: hosts.zip (148 kb)
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.zip

How To: Download and Extract the HOSTS file
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm

HOSTS File - Frequently Asked Questions
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm
Note: the "text" version makes a great resource for determining possible unwanted connections ...
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt (600 kb)

Get notified when the MVPS HOSTS file is updated
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/updates.htm

Published Mon, Sep 5 2011 13:56 by winhelp2002

Rethinking the ‘Never Unsubscribe’ Rule for Spam

Happy Labor Day!

David Pogue of the New York Times is worth reading and following. This post may be of some interest to some of you. Personally I find that the junk (spam) mail filters in Gmail and those in my host sevices webmail offerings do a very good job. However, I present this here for those of you who may find your spam filter inadequate. Be sure to read the whole post. This only really applies in certain situations.

"When it comes to junk mail, the rule, for 15 years, has been: Never respond. Don’t even try to unsubscribe, even if they give you instructions for doing so. You’re just letting the spammer know that your e-mail address is “live,” and that you’re a dummy who actually opens those messages and reads them. You’ll wind up getting put on even more spam lists as a result.

Well, I think it’s time to revisit that advice."

Rethinking the ‘Never Unsubscribe’ Rule for Spam

I find this article quite fascinating. I have to admit that I never gave the question a single thought. I never really thought it was a photograph at all. This is the picture of which I write:

If it looks familiar to you that probably means you have been a Windows XP user for some time now.

There is an interesting story behind the picture. First and foremost, it is a photograph, taken by a man who is likely pretty rich right now. You can read about the photo, the man who took it, and the location here:

Ever wonder where the Windows XP default wallpaper came from?

This article says, "Many users live their lives in Gmail, all without ever recognizing its full potential. These widgets can help." I don't know about that, but I am a Gmail user, so I thought I'd at least take a look at these. It remains to be seen if I will use any, but maybe some of you would like to try one or more, so here is the link:

15 Add-Ons to Become a Gmail Power User

CCleaner for Mac

I have been using my Apple Macbook Pro 17 a lot lately, and I always have a funny feeling when I do. I have spent most of the last 40 years being concerned, to varying levels, about security on computers. So it comes as no surprise that I have developed my Security Baseline for PCs. But in Apple's world where they tell me they are immune to viruses and rogue programs, I just can't help feel that one day that will all change. So I guess I won't rest easy until I eventually see (as I believe I will) an equivalent Apple version of all of the program functions provided by my Security Baseline for all of you PC users.

So I was happy to see that there is a version of CCleaner for Macs, and I downloaded it, installed it, and ran it as quickly as I could. Now CCleaner is not really a security program per se, but it cleans out a lot of the junk that accumulates on our systems, and I believe this is a good thing and a part of an overall security system.

So all of you Mac users, visit this site, http://www.piriform.com/mac/ccleaner, and get yourself a very lean, neat system cleaner and give it a try. Run the Analyze step first to see just what it will delete from your system, and then run the Clean portion of your program. Run it weekly and it'll take a minute or less each time and go a long way to keeping your system clean.

What Is the Ultrabook?

"Since May there has been a nearly constant, subcellular buzz on the Internet about something called an Intel Ultrabook. But what, exactly, are we looking at here?

First, let’s understand how Intel “releases” notebooks. Intel makes chips. That, in general, is all they do and all they ever want to do. However, the company often releases reference designs or plans for future products. These reference designs have included embedded systems for machinery (using Intel chips), point-of-sale systems for stores (using Intel chips) and low-power “in-vehicle infotainment systems” (using Intel chips.)

In short, Intel builds something, gives manufacturers the plans (and guidelines), and then sells them a few million chips that will go inside the hardware. That’s why most laptops are, inside, essentially the same: they’re based on a reference design passed along from chipmaker to manufacturer like holy writ."

Read the rest of this NYT article here