Save Money on Computer Repair Bills

It’s no secret that I am a computer consultant/trainer/troubleshooter. So, why would I potentially take food out of my own hand by writing this tip? Three reasons: I like to help people and share knowledge I dislike troubleshooting messes that could have prevented and I enjoy teaching people how to get the most out of their computers instead of being frustrated and constantly battling or worrying about the...

Should I backup?

Should you carry health insurance? Should you carry car insurance? Should you save for retirement? Should you eat every day? Does a bear….  Well, hopefully you get the picture. The answer is a resounding YES!! You should backup, and depending on your computer needs and usage your backups should occur frequently (sometimes daily). Many computer users equate backing up their computers with their mother’s...

Print Preview

Sometimes the most helpful computer utilities elude us and stay hidden for years. One such utility that I find very helpful (and have taken for granted) is the Print Preview function found in almost any program that allows printing. Because Windows and Macintosh made the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment available to the masses, what we see on our screens is pretty close to what we see on our print outs....

Digital Readers and E-books

Amazon released their version of a digital reader, called the Kindle, in late 2007. It received a lot of attention at the time, but not as much as its new version released this spring. Amazon states that more than 285,000 books are available for download and purchase, 50,000 audio books, and there are many magazine and newspaper articles also available for download (including my blog). A full text book can be downloaded in...

Google is on fire – New beta release of Pica...

How can you not get with Google? Here is a company that makes strategic acquisitions, encourages their employees to reach for the stars and challenge themselves and the status quo, and never rests on their considerable laurels. Today, they have done it again. This time with the release of the beta version Picasa 3. PIcasa 3 offers some great new features that help you share your photos easier, organize them easier, fix some...

GOS Gadgets Operating System Preview- Video Tip

GOS stands for Good Operating System and was the operating system of choice for WalMart’s $199 Everex computer last year that they couldn’t keep in stock. GOS is a customized version of Ubuntu Linux and like most Linux operating systems is free to use and works on almost any laptop or desktop built since 2000 or so. In this week’s video, I give you a quick overview of some of the features of GOS 3 Gadgets....

Are Macintosh computers poised to make a run?

JUNE 2008 UPDATE: I wrote the article below two years ago, ran across it tonight and wanted to write an update to it. At the time I wrote it, I think the now famous Apple and PC guy commercials had just started ramping up and the ominous steps towards Windows Vista were getting closer. My words probably weren’t unique at the time, and I don’t claim to be a sage, but it is astonishing how much the market has...

Yelp – Real world reviews

On my most recent travels, I discovered yet another great travel web site that I will be using every time I travel. The site’s name is Yelp. Yelp bills themselves as a site of Real People. Real Reviews. Yelp reviewers review everything from restaurants to schools to religious organizations. As their slogan describes, anyone can write a review about any service. I think the service works so well because it works like...

I have Wii Fit in hand

I made an early trip to Sam’s Club today and picked up three Wii Fits to resell on eBay. It has been month’s since there has been an item worth scalping on eBay. It will be interesting to see whether or not I can actually make a profit or just break even. eBay raised their rates by about two percent earlier this year. At the moment the $90 Wii Fit device is selling for around $150 on eBay even though they are...

Use YouTube.com to review the games your kids are ...

Grand Theft Auto IV was released this week and, as always happens when a version of GTA comes out, there has been a lot of discussion about video game violence and sexual content. Without going into detail GTA is a game that features guns, civilians, cops, cars, prostitutes and an environment that allows you to act in any way you please. As you can imagine, most teen game players choose to use the game as a simulation for...

Save pictures from email – Video Tip

It’s been almost one year since I first posted this tip. We have many new visitors this year, and not enough of you are heading my advice yet on this subject, so I’m posting it again. Please believe me when I tell you that this tip alone can save you countless dollars, time, and tears! Through my travels, I have noticed that many computer users save emails with pictures because they are unsure of how to save...

Yet another feature yanked from the NEW Microsoft ...

While working with a small business client today, they asked how to insert a picture into a Word document from their scanner. “Oh, that’s an easy one”, I said to myself. Then I realized they were using the new Office 2007. In all previous versions of Microsoft Word and other word processor worth their weight, you follow these steps to insert a picture from a scanner into a document:  Click Insert...

AVG Antivirus 8.0 Upgrade Advice

The past few days calls and emails started filtering in about the new AVG 8.0 version folks have seen appear on their free versions of AVG Antivirus. The common query is, “Should I upgrade?” No, home users of AVG Antvirus do not need to upgrade at all. The current free version of AVG will continue to be updated and as it has been for years. The new 8.0 version is the newest commercial product from AVG...

Cloudmark, Zonbu, Hostgator OH MY!!

You may have noticed that HelpMeRick.com has something new. We have added ads, but not just any ads. The ads you see on HelpMeRick.com are only for companies that we recommend strongly. So far, we have ads for Hostgator – our favorite web hosting service. Zonbu, an excellent laptop for those who want a laptop in a standard size package but alternative operating system. If you can’t afford Mac and the Eee PC is...

Home is where the Wii is

Tonight we had our weekly family night and as the activity part of the evening we made the kids guess what we were doing. We gave clues like “We (wii) think you will have a lot of fun tonight,” or “We (wii) bet you can’t guess what we are doing,” and “We have already given you the answer in the clues.” They went crazy trying to guess until my daughter said sarcastically, “Oh,...