I just returned from visiting my brother and his new baby and traveled, again, with only my phone and my Asus Eee PC. As usual, the little laptop did not disappoint. I was able to keep up with email, work with my spreadsheets and word processing documents and do other web research as well. All from a little marvel that cost less than $400 and weighs less than 2 pounds.
Adobe released version 9 of their PDF (Portable Document Format) Reader program. Once the king and almost sole PDF reader on the market, it, like so many other mainstream programs, has become bloated beyond recognition. This software bloat slows down the performance of even the fastest computers, and for this reason, I firmly stand against software bloat.
Technology is no different than politics in that there are a variety of topics that people have opinions on. While you may not know much about these topics now, what you know about them can have a great impact on knowing who to listen to when it comes to learning more about digital photography and related topics.
PC vs. Mac:
The Mac people will tell you that Macs are better for graphics, easier to use more stable.
If I keep recommending Linux/Ubuntu and Apple Macintosh to my customers, I will have to find another line of work.
Admittedly, I came to the Linux table very late (just over a year now) and have only been luke warm to Macintosh over the years. Windows Vista put me over the edge last year, and I started looking seriously at other operating systems. What I found in both Ubuntu and Mac OSX was an extremely stable, secure, easy-to-use operating system. I estimate that over the past 18 months or so, I have recommended and help setup more than 2 dozen Apple computers or Linux computers that I either installed Ubuntu on or were bought new.
Poisson rouge means red fish in French. Poissonrouge.com is one of the greatest web sites for kids that I have ever been to. Chances are it will keep about 75 percent of adults entertained for an hour or two as well. The site is simple, visit and click on anything to discover new areas. The site will seem endless as you or your children click through feature after feature. No keyboard skills are required and the site is so well designed that it will hardly seem like you are on a website at all.
Another great web site is Hero Machine. This one may at first seem like it is just for boys, but my 9-year-old daughter has spent her share of hours on it as well.
A couple of months ago I reviewed a couple of the online backup services and really liked (and continue to use) the Mozy Backup service. Today, Mozy announced the release of their online backup system for Macintosh users. You can read more about it and try it out by clicking this link.
Last week, I was charged with finding a computer for a customer who only wanted it for Internet, email, and word processing. He didn’t want to add any games, extra programs, or anything else to it. My first thought, as I was listening to his needs, was Ubuntu. One other request was not to break the bank on cost. Lastly, he told me that he would be hooked up to a high speed cable Internet service.
Upon talking a little more, I explained my idea bout an Ubuntu Linux machine. He asked, “Does it do Internet? Email?” I said, “Yes.” He agreed that it sounded fine to him.
My favorite online application suite, Zoho, just got a little more powerful today for spreadsheet users. The Zoho spreadsheet, known as Zoho Sheet, added two huge features today; Macros and Pivot Tables.
Power spreadsheet users use these two features often and will appreciate Zoho Sheet’s new found power. For an overview, watch this video from Zoho:
“What brand of computer do you recommend?” is one of the most common questions I get asked. My answer is usually, “It really doesn’t matter as long as it is a name brand and has the specs that you need.”
I often hear comments like, “Our first computer was a Dell and we constantly had problems with viruses and spam,” or “I’m never going to get another HP, this one just locks up and crashes all the time.”
Most computer problems I see every day have nothing to do with the parts they are made up of. Most home computer problems are software related – not hardware.
The iPod has set the standard for media players. It’s ease of use and intuitive interface make it a device that media lovers of all ages and expertise can easily pickup and use.
However, the iPod has one disadvantage when compared with almost every other media player on the market. Once your music is stored on the system, there is no simple way of getting it back off again. If you switch computers or simply want to make a backup of your tunes, you must find a way around this system Apple has put in place to prevent you from pirating the music that has been purchased from iTunes.