Customize | Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners

Posts Tagged: customize

Internet Tips — 6 Comments
5
Jun 08

Surf faster with Firefox Custom Keywords – Video Tip

You already know that I highly recommend the Mozilla Firefox web browser for fast and safe Internet surfing. This week, I discovered a couple of new techniques to use with Firefox that allow you to visit your most used sites by typing just a letter or two. And if that isn’t cool enough already, you can also use this technique to customize your searches and make them faster than ever as well.

Firefox call these features Custom Keywords. To use them, you first have to bookmark a web site, then modify the bookmark to create your Custom Keyword that can be any character on your keyboard (or combination of characters). Watch the video below to see this tip in action and how to create your own Custom Keywords!

Listen to music online customized for your tastes

This past week I learned about an incredibly convenient and useful web site that allows you to listen to unlimited online music for free. The site is Pandora Radio. Sure there are other web sites and radio stations that let you do the same thing, but this one also customizes your station based on your musical tastes…for free…and without commercials.

I typed in Steve Miller Band and within a few moments Jungle Love started playing followed by Stealers Wheel’s Stuck in the Middle wtih You, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Under the Bridge, Tom Petty’s Listen to her Heart, and the Spin Doctors singing Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong. All songs and groups that I enjoy. If it happens to miss with a prediction, you can click the next button and move on to the next song. After about an hour of listening tonight, I have yet to push the next button.

My experience is not unique either. The folks who told me about Pandora all related similar success stories. Based on a single artist or song name, the site uses years of music study and comparison to predict what you might like for other music. The results are remarkably accurate. To learn more about how they do this, be sure to read about their Music Genome Project.

If you have a high speed Internet connection and like music, be sure to give Pandora Radio a spin! If you are already a Pandora fan, leave a comment below with your experiences.

Computer User Group / Internet Tips — 4 Comments
11
Mar 08

Create Your OWN Personalized Newspaper Online – Video Tip

In this month’s group, we talked about and demonstrated how to set up a web page that can be personalized. I like to use a customized web page (portal) as my home page (first page that shows up when I start my browser). We looked at the Yahoo portal (My Yahoo) and the newer Google customized home page.

Both services require that you register and setup a user name and password. Once you register, you can customize your page to include weather information, stock portfolios, sports news and scores, news from industries or topics that you choose, comics, and even content from other web pages. Both services are free and give you the flexibility to add, subtract and edit any type of data that you choose.

After you sign in, first look for the "X" in the upper right hand corner of each content box. This "X" lets you close (remove) that section from your page.

Once you close all the sections you don’t want, look for the "edit" button on the sections you left to add, change or customize content for that area (add or subtract headlines or information for that topic area).
Next, click on the Add Content option to add additional topics to your customized page.
Use that Change Layout to customize colors, number of columns and more.
Last, both services let you drag and drop sections to arrange the order and position of your custom content.

One other way you can really add a personal touch to your custom home page (online newspaper) is by adding your own favorite content. The best way to do this is add RSS feeds to your page. Read our RSS tips for more information about this great service offered by many web sites: RSS – Part I, RSS – Part II.

Once you put all this work in to create a custom web page of information, make sure you change your browser’s home page to your new custom page (these steps will work in both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer):

1. Bring up your new custom page

2. Click Tools –> Options from the menus

3. Click "Use Current" under the home page box.

4. Click Apply and OK at the bottom of the page

To see how all this is done visually, please watch our video below:

Ubuntu Tips — 1 Comment
21
Feb 08

Start programs automatically in Ubuntu – Video Tip

Windows user can use this tip to start programs automatically when they boot up their computers. This week I learned how to do the same thing with Ubuntu Linux (and its derivatives). Since my goal for this site is to impart all the knowledge I have in my brain to you, here is how to start programs on boot up in Ubuntu Linux:

1. Click System –> Preferences –> Sessions from the menus
2. Click the Add button in the Startup tab (should be already open)
3. Type the name of the program you want to start
4. Click the Browse button next to the Command box
5. Browse to the /usr/bin folder
6. Find and double-click the name of the program you want to start
7. Click OK
8. Click Close

Then next time you restart your Ubuntu machine, it will start the program you added. Of course, you can also uncheck the boxes next to programs you don’t need to start automatically just as easily.

It’s not as complicated as it sounds in writing. Watching the video below (2 minutes) will demonstrate the tip for you.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
17
Dec 07

Zonbu Computers – $99 desktop and $279 laptop

Zonbu Linux Computers Today, I stumbled on a web site selling inexpensive Linux computers that I think we will see as a trend over the next few years. Zonbu sells only two computers; one laptop and one mini-desktop. They can be purchased with or without a comprehensive monthly service agreement that actually might be a good deal because of the extensive support they offer. The system’s run a customized version of Linux and advertised as “bullet proof” in terms of security.

If you are a self-sufficient and like to seek answers on your own, then the service agreement probably doesn’t make sense. However, if you really like having the ability to phone someone and ask questions or be walked through a procedure, then the $14.95 per month service fee is pretty cheap.

Read through the site’s description of their computers and the service agreements to make your own decisions. I think that this is a welcome and refreshing approach to selling computers and makes a lot of sense for a vast majority of computer users.

I like this ideas so much, that I’m offering the same deal I offered when I talked about the $199 Linux computer from WalMart: For the first 3 people who buy one of these machines in the Grand Junction, Colorado area, I will help them setup the new machine for free!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 2 Comments
15
Oct 07

Splashtop Instant On – Instant Off

On last week’s web show, I talked about how excited I was with a new technology called Splashtop. Adam sent me the site earlier last week, and since then my mind and ideas have been flying.

Splashtop was developed by a private company called Device VM. They work with hardware and software developers to bring their ideas to the market. Splashtop is being billed as a computer’s alter ego to the operating system (aka Windows, Linux, etc). Instead of booting all the way into your operating system (2 minutes plus), you can choose to boot to the Splashtop which, at the moment, runs a customized version of Mozilla Firefox and Skype.

When you choose to start your computer into Splashtop, you can be browsing the Internet in seconds. Everything you can do on the web is available. When you finish, hit the off button and the system shuts off instantly.

I am really excited about the possibility for Splashtop because I have been talking and writing a lot recently about the need for simpler computers. With all the computing we can do on the Internet today, there really is no need for a vast majority of computer users to deal with the complexities and cost of an operating system.

Take a look at the Splashtop web site and watch their video below and then let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 10 Comments
29
Sep 07

Now I remember what I don’t like about Apple and Macs

Apple products are beautiful and functional. Many people brag about their iPod or Mac’s stability, but there is a good reason that Macs are so stable. Apple is very restrictive as to what others are allowed to do with their systems.

For example, if you have a iPod, you can only use iTunes if you want to sync music to it. If you have another brand of media player, it will not work with iTunes.

Most standard hardware such as keyboards, mice and printers are compatable with both Macs and PCs, but when it comes to software, Apple has some very strict standards that developers must meet and money must exchange hands to apply for Apple approval.

This week, Apple pulled the biggest “Apple move” of all, they released an update that rendered $500 iPhones unusable because people had changed the devices to run on cell networks other than those approved by Apple.

The iPhone was designed to run on AT&T here in the States and it could only run software that had been approved by Apple. Resourceful hackers found a way around these restrictions and released a few small software patches for free that would allow users to customize their iPhones more and run them on whatever cell network they were currently subscribed to.

Apple could have allowed the changes and sold more iPhones, but their relationship with AT&T was more valuable than the relationship with those who had paid $500 for the device.

So, they released an update to fix some functional issues with the phone and along with it, they broke the phone and voided the warranty for anyone who had installed theses unapproved patches.

Now, many iPhone users who bought the iPhone because they wanted to be one of the cool kids and conform to the hype are learning their first lesson in the drawbacks of Apple products.

Apple products are beautiful, they are easy to use, they are sexy, and they are cool, but like other cliques, they don’t like to play with anyone outside of their circle.

Even for Apple though, this is the biggest bully move they have ever made. I wouldn’t be fix is released in a few days or weeks that will restore the broken iPhones to factory standards but with updates that prevent the previous hacks from working.

This is an important business technology story to follow. If they get away with it, it could set a new precedent for other companies. If they get trampled and their reputation becomes tainted, it could mean that Apple loosens their restrictions more in future products.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — 1 Comment
25
Sep 07

Windows Vista SP1 – WOW!

When Microsoft released Vista, their slogan for the new program was, "The Wow is Now," or something like that.

Their ad campaign was not incorrect, over and over we have heard people say, "Wow!"

As in, "Wow! This is slower than my Windows 98 system."

Most major software titles come in several generations. There is the initial program then, over time, major updates called service packs are released to fix bugs and add new features that were requested by the initial adopters.

Microsoft has released a beta (or test) version of Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Vista and all I can say is, "Wow!"

While I haven’t personally installed the update, I have been reading blogs and reviews from users who have.

Did Microsoft work on the response time of Vista? Not really.

Did Microsoft add any more "Classic" view options for those having a tough time navigating Vista? No, but they did remove the Search button from the START orb.

Did they make custom networking easier to setup?No, that’s not a part of this service pack.

Did they add an area that allows you to turn off annoying vista features easily? No.

What did they add then?

Well, that’s easy. After installing Vista SP1 you will finally be able to defragment drives other than C:. See, you just said, "Wow!" didn’t you?

How about this major upgrade. Whenever you hit CTRL+ALT+DEL the window asking if you want to go into the task manager comes up quicker. "Wow!" that will save several minutes per year off our lives collectively.

Now, here’s the biggie (drumroll please).

You can now customize the Windows BitLocker encryption system to encrypt certain drives. But, only if you are a Windows Ultimate or Enterprise edition user. Was that another, "Wow!" I just heard?

You can read more about how Microsoft is "selling" this new service pack on the Windows Experience Blog.