Posts Tagged: Google


4
Feb 10

Linux + Gmail = Computing Bliss

Last summer, I wrote an article about a senior citizen client of mine who constantly struggled with her older Windows XP machine. Updates would cause problems, the printer would stop working, security woes plagued her. She turned out to be my poster child for using Linux (in her case Ubuntu 8.10).  Check out the article (by the way, she is still doing fantastic with her computer and Ubuntu).

Today, I visited another of my Linux clients. This couple came to me about six months ago (they are both seniors as well and self-described computer newbies). They explained that computers frighten and intimidate them, but they felt compelled to have one so they could stay in touch with their kids and grandkids. They strongly desired to have a machine that was simple to use, maintain, and was safe. After much discussion, they decided to take my advice and dump their nearly 12 year old computer and Continue reading →


15
Jan 10

How to backup photos using Picasa – Video Tip

Lately, I have showed many people how easy, not to mention vital, it is to backup your digital photos. When a computer crashes, the first thing the computer user does is panic…unless they have a good backup routine.

With photos, there is no easier, safer way to backup than using Picasa. Picasa is a free photo management utility from Google that can be used on any platform; Windows, Mac, or Ubuntu/Linux. You can read more tips I have produced about Picasa by clicking here.

After  you have installed Picasa, it will scan your hard drive for all your photos. If you have many years worth, it could take up to Continue reading →


14
Jan 10

Students and online apps

Umbrellas Flows.

photo credit: Leodileo

My high school daughter ran from the house today in a panic because she was running late and didn’t have to time to print something she needed for school. She uses a MacBook and OpenOffice, but had already shut the computer off and was out the door.

Interestingly enough, she uses and is sold on the utility and effectiveness of online apps as well. She uses both Google Docs and Zoho (which she likes better) regularly after I introduced her to them a few years ago. But this time around, she had her info on her hard drive. Had she uploaded or created the document in Zoho or Google Docs, she could have gone to school happily, sat down at any computer, logged into her account and printed the document.

Needless to say, I think she will be uploading more of her documents to Zoho or Google Docs.

I mentioned online apps Continue reading →


30
Nov 09

How to use tearable tabs in your browser – Video Tip

This is a quick tip on using an extra feature of tabbed browsing. What’s tabbed browsing? If you aren’t using tabbed browsing yet, you need to start…today! Click here to get started and learn how to put this powerful feature of all modern browsers to work for you.

Today’s intermediate tabbed browsing tip only works in Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera. Microsoft has not Continue reading →


6
Nov 09

7 Google services you have never tried

Google SignGoogle started as a college project 12 years ago, then as a startup search engine just 10 years ago. Today, Google owns more than 60% of all web search traffic and employs close to 22,000 employees worldwide.

You probably interact with Google via their search engine primarily. However, you are missing out on some truly great services that Google also provides in addition to their fast and accurate search engine.

In this article, I will share 7 of the many other services Google provides.

Google News

When you arrive at google.com, click the link that says News at the top of the page or you can directly visit news.google.com. Google News is an auto-generated news page that refreshes automatically every 5-10 minutes and displays headlines from more than 4500 news sources around the world. To me, it is the ultimate newspaper?unbiased and unfiltered. And even more helpful, starting a Continue reading →


6
Oct 09

Choosing a smart password, from the Gmail Blog

I’ve written many times about passwords and their importance in keeping you safe online. Search the site for passwords to read them and also take a look at this article from the Gmail Blog at Google.

Official Gmail Blog: Choosing a smart password.


22
Sep 09

Picasa brings face recognition to the desktop app

Google continues to make Picasa the photo orgainzer to beat. Not only is it fast, intuitive, and clean, the feature set continues to grow. Today, Google released an update to Picasa, Picasa 3.5. They brought in the face recognition feature that was available in the online photo album version of Picasa and Continue reading →


17
Sep 09

Computer Help Show Podcast – 09-16-09

This month’s show was packed with information about the Google services that you may not know they offered. Have a listen or download it to your MP3 player or iPod to listen to later.


16
Sep 09

Google buys reCaptcha

Google just announced that they have bought reCaptcha. reCaptcha has been a leading company in helping to thwart comment and account spam by requiring a human to decipher characters and words scanned from books before continuing on in a posting or sign up process. Check out the article here:

Official Google Blog: Teaching computers to read: Google acquires reCAPTCHA.


9
Sep 09

Do everything online…for free!

cloud_computing_iconSome people believe that I drink too much Web 2.0 Kool Aid. That’s ok though because I love drinking it!

Web 2.0 refers to computing on the web versus your desktop. Instead of installing an application and then starting it from your desktop, you head to a web site instead. If you use HotMail (MSN email), Yahoo email, Gmail, or access your email via your provider’s web site, then you too are utilizing Web 2.0 computing or cloud computing.

For me, the big deal about cloud computing is how easy it is to access my information from literally any computer any time. If problems arise on my computer, I can easily move over to a different computer and barely miss a beat. And if you have had computer problems in the past, cloud computing offers Continue reading →