Our advice changes as technology evolves

Rick and I don't sell anything either on the show or in our businesses. We specialize in the service of helping people through their problems not solving problems by throwing more products on their computer. When we recommend a product like AVG Antivirus or Cloudmark spam filter we do so because we love the product, no company pays us anything for our recommendation. Since we are so brand neutral, our advice has changed...

Would you rather have your TV or your computer?

Lately I have had a lot of clients call me in a panic because they are having a computer emergency. These calls are getting more frequent every year. Is there a such thing as a computer emergency? Yes. In fact, I would be willing to wager that most people I work for, if given the choice, would choose to live 24 hours without running water or a fridge than they would without their computer. Having a good computer guy is as...

Getting familiar with your digital camera

Although we recently had a class on getting to know your digital camera, many in the group have brand new cameras this time. Since our meeting this month will focus a lot on the individual cameras that people bring to the meeting most of our notes will be posted after the meeting. Here are a few items I expect to touch on. You have a camera, now what? Once you have the digital camera, you will need a few extras. A 1...

Does anyone remember easy printer installs?

One trend happening in technology over the past three years or so is bloated printer software. By bloated, I mean printer installations that require nearly one gigabyte (yes almost 1000 megabytes) of hard drive space! Call me old or nostalgic, but I miss the days where printers could be installed from a floppy disk and took less than three minutes ton install. The worst offender today seems to be HP. Their popular all-in-one...

CES 2007 – Why didn’t we see these thi...

Woot.com has become one of my favorite sites and it isn't because of the great bargains – those are also nice though. Woot does post a great deal every night at midnight Pacific time, but that is only a part of what they do. Woot is great because the guys who post to it daily do a great job. They are funny and the site is extremely well written. They don't just post a great deal with a description, no they...

Quickly get to the file or folder in a cluttered w...

Today I helped a client organize his photos for a project he was working on. I moved all of the photos for the project into a folder in My Pictures. He had dozens of folders in his My Pictures folder all full of pictures from other projects. He called me about an hour later to tell me that the folder I had created had suddenly disappeared. "What have you done since I left," I asked. I wasn't accusing him of...

Off to CES

Well, I'm off to CES and for those who are wondering, I did get a hair cut. Watch for videos and photos from CES and you will be able to see my new conservative look. Over the coming days I have interviews and meetings setup with Kensington, SanDisk, and a few companies I have never heard of. I also will be attending press parties sponsored by companies like Monster Cables, Sony, and CNET. It all promises to be a good...

A sure fire way to learn your computer this year!

When I am doing private tutoring on a computer I typically write step-by-step notes while the learner sits in the driver's seat. I think that people learn more by doing than by hearing. However, my method is really only about 60 percent as effective as it could be. The best way to learn is by learning. In other words, having someone sit next to you and walk you through the steps will stick in your memory as well as if you...

Picasa Picture Manager Video Tip – Part 2

In Part 1 of our Picasa Video tip , we discussed how to use many of the editing and organizing tools available in Picasa. In this tip, you will learn about: Transferring your digital camera photos to your computer with Picasa Selecting photos from multiple folders Creating a web album Printing your photos Ordering prints from your photos and more! Click the Read More option below to start the video if it has not already...

How to send an email attachment

We have a few program specific tips on our website about how to send email attachments. Each step is broken down step-by-step.  I am writing this more as a general guide for emailing attachments. I have seen a few mistakes lately that have caused problems for first-time attachment senders. Here are a few tips to help you avoid problems. 1. If you are emailing photos and you use Outlook, Outlook Express or gmail, download...

A word for our Dial-up readers (and our high speed...

Lately, I have helped many dial-up computer users get their email unclogged. It became clogged because their friends and family who have high speed Internet sent them messages that were way too big for email. Usually these messages contained either large digital photos or video jokes or messages that bring dial-up users email to screeching halt.  DIAL-UP USERS: You absolutely need to know how to check your email using your...

We need a new Internet Appliance

At one of the first, now defunct, Comdex computer shows that I attended in the late 90's, I attended a round table discussion on Internet Appliances. This was a huge buzz word at the time, but unfortunately it was ahead of its time. An Internet Appliance did only two things…browse the Internet and email. The picture I'm showing in this story was known as the Netpliance from a company called I-Opener. The idea...

Digital Camera Burst or Continuous modes

It’s fun for me to share my limited knowledge with people to help them get just a little more out of technology. I had the opportunity today to help a basketball mom learn how to use the continuous mode (burst mode) with her new digital camera. One of the great complaints about digital cameras is their slow shutter response. Fortunately, most digital cameras have improved that feature. One feature that many digital...

Gadgets yield more gadgets

I have helped several people buy new computers lately. I don't sell computers or any other hardware so I am more of a personal shopper than a salesman when it comes to guiding people through their purchase. I think it's funny how gadgets always seem to yield more gadgets. Here is a short flowchart of how this process works. 1. A client calls and says that they need a new computer. They ask my advice on what they...

Using your solitaire skills (Drag & Drop) R...

Believe it or not, Microsoft put Solitaire in Windows to help new computer users get comfortable with the mouse and its functions. After years of playing solitaire, this tip will help you put the skills to use. I like to call this technique the "ol' 8 or hearts on the 9 of clubs trick." In computer talk, what you are doing when you move one card to another in solitaire is the "drag & drop." ...