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.
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 and install Picasa – selecting, resizing and sending photos is a one step process.
2. Don't ever scan a document as "text" when scanning. Sometimes this will open the scanner software's OCR feature which converts it to a text document rather than an image. This sounds good, but it will cost you a lot more time and it probably will just frustrate you.
We have had a number of our listeners and folks who attend our various seminars ask us about our trip to CES this year. Until recently we were kind of up in the air as to whether we were going.
Well, I am happy to say that it's official that I am going. Rick will be staying home to take care of his goats and run the user group meeting in January, but I will be taking Andy, my brother and a writer for the show, with me to work the show.
As we have done in past years, expect daily blogs updates and we may even attempt some video this year if we can get it all working smoothly.
There are so many MP3 players on the market that they now all look the same. The iPod, the Sansa, the Zune, the Zen, there really is no difference. Sure one may be a little more popular and another may be more compatible with non-proprietary formats and software, but in the end they all have the same set of features.
Pretty much every manufacturer, except for the iPod, features a built-in FM radio. The built-in radio is the iPod's right mouse button. For almost 20 years consumers tried to tell Apple that they needed to have two buttons on the mouse. Apple spent 20 years trying to convince the consumer that as long as you didn't mind using both of your hands in keyboard combinations you really didn't need two buttons on a mouse. Almost two years ago Apple gave in and started supporting the two button mouse.
Three of my clients today were digital beginners. Each of these three clients apologized for being "stupid." They explained that computers are new to them and they aren't smart enough to learn.
As a teacher and computer guy, I kind of get tired of hearing this. Keep in mind that this comes from a guy who had, "potential for higher achievement," on almost every report card he ever received.
It wasn't until I started teaching that I realized how much of a barrier our own attitude truly makes in how well we learn. I have clients who are 86 who are teaching their kids how to send email attachments. Then again, I have 45-year-old clients who tell me that they are too old to learn this stuff.
First, let me explain that this is not a complaint. I am trying very hard not to use HelpMeRick to vent my frustrations.
I hope that readers see this more as a humorous observation on what it is like to be a computer guy than a computer guy complaining about non-computer guys. As much as I work on computers, I prefer to think of myself as a guy who helps people rather than a guy who fixes computers.
Sometimes computer guys need a little help in figuring out a problem. Rick and I often talk off-mic about how people for some reason think that their computer should be easy to figure out. We can't figure out where this perception came from.
Overall, HP printers are my favorite. They are dependable, they do a great job and they are fairly economical on a price per page basis. I have seen some good things from Canon printers lately, but HPs have a much longer track record.
Every brand of printer has its problems and HPs are no exception. One of the biggest problems with HP printers is that they get caught in a loop. If you turn the printer off in the middle of printing, or the computer locks up and you have to restart part way through a print job, don't be surprised if your HP goes bananas when you turn the computer back on.
There is a nasty group of spyware programs out there that not only hijack your browser home page, but they replace your desktop with a warning that your computer is infected and add icons to your system tray. What's worse is that all of these items are so linked that you can't get rid of any of them unless you get rid of all of them.
Today I found a great tool that made removing these spyware programs simple. However, this tool does not replace any of the other tools we talk about on a regular basis.
The program is easy to use – just follow the prompts. I didn't even have to start the system in safe mode for it to work.
Over the past few weeks, I have been working with a local business (that I will not name) to help them change their computer setup. The business is of the type that they need to worry about security, privacy and large-scale record keeping.
When I help out with this sort of job, I have no problem admitting where my limits of expertise are and I help the client find another business that has the book learning to do the job they need. I am grateful for the real geeks who can do this type of job because I prefer to work with the people rather than the machines.
The business client has kept me on board for the job though because I will be there to setup the individual computers and help the employees through the process.
When I bought my first serious camera (back then cameras used stuff called film), I had to make the big decision that all photographers must make with their first SLR (Single Lens Reflex – the king of camera that lets you change lenses) – Canon or Nikon.
You may say, "But what about Minolta, Pentax, Sigma, Hasselblad, etc." For the most part other brands are either too proprietary, over priced, behind in innovation or difficult to find accessories for. Canon and Nikon are the standards.
At the time I was shopping for my first SLR most pros shot with the Nikon F5, a camera that was built for surviving battle photography. Canon was always pushing the technology and feature envelope while Nikon was working on rugged design and dependability.