Skip to content

Rick

A (another) word about passwords

I will be the first to admit that remembering the plethora of passwords and pin numbers in our high tech world is overwhelming. However, it is imperative that you DO remember them. And even more imperative that you use different hard to guess passwords for different sites…especially financial sites. Using sticky notes is not the best way to manage your passwords, but using a Rolodex or index cards in a recipe box can work well. You can read our tip (click here) about electronic ways to save and remember your passwords. Knowing your passwords will save you a great deal of time when needing tech support either on the phone or from guys like me who make house calls. And we all know time is money.

Broadband Bliss

During the holidays, I helped a friend buy and setup a new computer. After looking at his current bills, we determined that his family would save money going with our local cable company for their TV, telephone, and Internet setup. They dumped MSN (dial-up), AT&T long distance, and Qwest in the process. Now they have a better TV plan, unlimited long distance telephone calls, nice phone package, and of course the high speed Internet. Once we finalized the setup, I introduced them to some of the things they could do with broadband. They were amazed at the speed of the new machine and connection speed, but also very pleased that their phone would no longer be busy when they used the Internet.

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 teach yourself.

So, if learning your computer is one of your New Year's resolutions, here are a few tips that will help you teach yourself.

1. Teaching yourself doesn't mean doing it all on your own. You may want a tutor, relative or neighbor to show you how to do it a couple times before you start experimenting.

So, I cleaned my office today

Tomorrow I will start taking calls again and return back to work. I decided to use my last day off of the Holiday season to clean my office and get a fresh start on the new year.

I am a pack rat, but I am not the kind of person who never throws anything away. I am picky in what I keep. Most of my clutter is job related. Since I spend my days working on computers, I tend to keep computer parts and cables "just in case."

While I kept a lot of cables, I did decide to finally get rid of a lot of stuff I will probably never need again. I collected a total of 5 trash bags full of junk in the cleaning process.

Create a new toolbar in Windows – Video Tip

Desktop icons are great to access commonly used programs and files, but I have found an even faster way to access those commonly used programs and keep my desktop a little cleaner at the same time.

After following the outlined steps below, you will have an orderly toolbar that contains easy one-click access to your favorite programs or files:

  1. RIGHT Click on your Taskbar (next to the Start button)

  2. Click Toolbars

  3. Click Quick Launch (or make sure there is already a check mark there)

What else has that actress been in?

We have talked about IMDB as a part of our favorite information sites in the past, but I think it deserves its own article and review.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database and it is one of the best sites on the web for answering the nagging questions we have so often such as, "What else has that guy been in?" or "What was that movie with Christopher Walken and Andy Garcia?"

IMDB can be used to resolve arguments like which movies had Samuel L. Jackson which ones had Laurence Fishburne.

One month away from Windows Vista

Microsoft plans on rolling out Windows Vista en masse on January 30, 2007. After nearly three years of delays, the much anticipated new operating system will be available. Unfortunately, the only reason it is getting released now versus later is because Microsoft stripped away many of the features it was supposed to have in order to deliver the product at all. This doesn't bode well for Microsoft or we computer users. I showed my brother Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 while he was here for the holidays. His response: "It's sexier."

I will admit that it has a certain visual appeal, but nothing earth shattering. What it doesn't have is an intuitive look and feel that users will feel comfortable with out of the box because the visual aesthetics are so different. With one month to go, I am anxious to see the reception that it gets from consumers. So far, the volume business clients that have had access since November have been very unimpressed and sales are lackluster.

A Confession: I don’t understand computers

I know how to fix computers, but I will freely admit that I don't understand them.

Today I saw two clients with very strange problems. One person had a problem that prevented their CD burner from writing and their computer from recognizing the sound card. However, the sound card and CD writer had just been replaced because of the same problem.

What was really strange was that the system sounds worked and the CD would record files just fine as long as you didn't use Nero.

After they had the CD drive and sound card replaced, everything had worked fine for about two weeks.

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 started, and be patient as the video loads.

NORAD tracks Santa on web

Every news outlet in the world gets a phone call from the Federal Government at around 3am two days before Christmas. Someone with a deep whispery voice demands that that news service must run the NORAD tracking Santa story or their program will be moved from its valuable time slot to Saturday afternoons on AM radio – we decided to run the story anyway.

NORAD's official Santa Tracking website.