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Riding Shotgun with Rick

PC World columnist says don’t upgrade from XP

PC World columnist, David Coursey, writes this week that the hassle of upgrading a Windows XP computer to Windows 7 isn’t worth the time and price. It pretty much mimics the exact advice I gave to Windows XP users when Vista came out 2 1/2 years ago.

Software developers build software for the future, so older computer simply cannot run the newer software as efficiently. Especially when talking about operating systems like Windows.

Bottom line: If you are Read More »PC World columnist says don’t upgrade from XP

Airport security may screen you with a Nintendo Wii

13/06/09 - Wii Fit Feet
photo credit: motti82

The Nintendo Wii, a gaming console you hook to your TV, became a runaway success since its release two years ago. About 9 months after its release, Nintendo released its wildly successful and popular Wii Fit with balance board. The balance board does a fantastic job of measuring balance, weight, center of gravity and more.

In the CNN article I linked below, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security may employ the Nintendo Wii to test how fidgety Read More »Airport security may screen you with a Nintendo Wii

Google discourages multiple email forwards

wall of spam
photo credit: chotda

I setup a new Gmail address for a customer a couple of weeks ago and used POP to allow her to use Outlook Express like she was used to with her old address. In less than 2 days, she called and said that her password was being rejected and she couldn’t send or receive email.

I hurried over and logged into the web interface with her credentials, but was also rejected. On the second attempt, it required me to answer a captcha and her secret question before logging me in to her account.  After doing so, I checked the POP settings in Outlook Express and sent a test message to myself and back to her. Test successful and I left.

Two days go by, and she called me again. Perplexed, I made my way back to her house and repeated the same steps as I just described. Gmail normally does not require a user to decode a captcha and answer the secret question, but I chalked it up to something Read More »Google discourages multiple email forwards

Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 061

Chalmers paid to have his question read first this week followed by questions from Radha, Greg, Briel, Violet, Sue, Betty, Donna, Gary, Marty, Howard Kristen, Ariane, Robert, and Don. Chalmer’s question concerned a very old computer, and in order, the other questions were about a programmers application conflict with Vista Aero, Ubuntu users group, changing desktop wallpaper, screen resolution problem,… Read More »Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 061

Tiny digital camera mounted on an albatross…really

Ran across this interesting news story today. Scientists are starting to use small, 83 gram digital cameras capable of taking up to 10,000 pictures on animals. In this case, the camera was mounted on an albatross and they found that these albatross were feeding with killer whales…similar to buzzards and lions on the savanna. Following is the full article. BBC… Read More »Tiny digital camera mounted on an albatross…really

How to Use the “Extra” Keys on Your Keyboard

no denial
photo credit: Don Solo

There are roughly 50 keys on your keyboard that you use on a regular basis, but there are at least 104 total keys on your keyboard.

So, what are those other keys for?

Here is a list of the keys you may not be using that can make your computing life a lot easier – in no particular order.

F1 – The F1 key is located above your number and letter keypad. In almost any program anywhere in Windows, pressing F1 will bring up your help screen. From the help screen you can look up topics and learn more about the program you are using.

PRINT SCREEN (PRT SCR, PRNT SCR, etc.) – Located to the right of the F keys, the Print Screen button is handy for capturingRead More »How to Use the “Extra” Keys on Your Keyboard

6 Health Tips from a Physical Therapist Turned Tech Dude

Wax On, Wax Off
photo credit: puroticorico

When I meet new customers or even strike up conversations with existing ones, my past sometimes infiltrates the conversation. I didn’t start out my adult life as a computer tech/trainer. I didn’t get a degree in computer technology. My degree and training is in physical therapy. I worked as a physical therapist for over 10 years, mostly with geriatrics.

During those years, I informally did my own case study on healthy individuals, recovery time for sick or injured, and general wellness. I tried to compile and make sense of those who stay healthy as we age and why.

In 6 easy to digest snippets, here is what I observed in my years as a working physical therapist and in my years as trained physical therapist working in technology:Read More »6 Health Tips from a Physical Therapist Turned Tech Dude

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.

Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 060

This installment 60 of Rick answers his email (cue the balloons and dancing girls). Questions this week are from Robert, Paul, Jose, Henry, Blane, Clare, Romero, Mark, Robert, and Paramount. They asked about Word 2007 typesetting, backing up photos to CD/DVD, monitor problems, Microsoft Security Essentials advice, cleaning a Nikon camera after surviving Burning Man, downloading Java, recovering from a… Read More »Rick Answers his Email Videocast – 060