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Free & Pay WiFi Hot Spots in Grand Junction, CO

I thought it might be a good idea to make a complete list of open WiFi hotspots in Grand Junction, CO.

A WiFi Hotspot is a place where anyone can access wireless Internet for free and without setting up an account or through the use of a pay account. I also added a few pay sites as well. I certainly don’t know all the spots in town, so please help me make this list more complete with your additions by leaving a comment below.Read More »Free & Pay WiFi Hot Spots in Grand Junction, CO

Set up a home network – Part I

Home NetworkHome computer networks used to be just for geeks, there was no practical reason to setup a network at home because most people only had one system and the Internet was only accessible through a dial-up connection that couldn?t be shared.

Today that has all changed. Computer networks are not only practical but they are also easy to setup and in many cases they are absolutely necessary. Over the next few weeks, we will breakdown the process of building a computer network into simple steps that will guide you through the entire process of setting up either a wired or wireless home computer network.

Before we get into the logistics of a network setup, we should cover some quick terminology. Here are a few terms you absolutely need to understand to build a computer network.

What I learned in the first 4 days of my iPhone 3G

I picked up my new iPhone late on Thursday night, worked with it on Friday, then left with it for a quick trip to see my brother and my first and only nephew. Prior to this phone, I have used some sort of smartphone since 2000…all Palm software based. Prior to that I used Palm handheld computers since about 1997.

I decided to move to the iPhone because I felt that the Palm innovation had stagnated…about 5 years ago. Plus, with all the innovation and development happening around the iPhone, I knew it was a great opportunity to take my smartphone usage even further than the Palm based systems had. A real quick word about any smartphone; they aren’t met for every cell phone user. Smartphones are designed for people who want to check email, lookup information on the web, get maps, send text messages, add specialty programs like conversion programs, time trackers and much more to their phone.

Enough blabber, here are some of my thoughts about the iPhone after only four days of use:

  1. The screen is absolutely stunning…clear, bright, and responsive.

  2. I really miss being able to select text

WiFi is truly becoming ubiquitous

I’ve mentioned before that I think that laptops make a lot of sense for computer users who travel. With a great deal of our communication and information gathering tied up in the computer world, not having this tool when traveling is a definite minus. My family and I just returned from a short trip where having our laptop with us saved us a lot of time and aggravation.

While traveling, we used the computer and a wi-fi connection (which was easy to find) to :

  • Email relatives
  • Access maps 
  • Compare shopping centers we were thinking of visiting
  • Keep an eye on the weather
  • Check road reports
  • Find our favorite eateries
  • Find independent coffee shops (we like them better than Starbucks) 
  • Download and look at pictures we took
  • Stay current with news without having to wait for a newspaper or the evening news

I’m curious what other travelers use their laptops for on the road. Leave a comment and tell me your traveling laptop story or tip!

Canon leaps ahead again in DSLR wars

I have made no secret of the fact that when it comes to digital SLRs I prefer Canon over all other brands. I have also backed up my argument with a long list of reasons.

Everytime any other company gets close to Canon, Canon announces a new camera that out paces the competition both in features and price.

Canon did it again this week. They have announced two new digital SLRs, both will make any serious photographer drool unless they are blinded by their loyalty to another brand of camera.

Easy WiFi with Ubuntu Linux – Video Tip

This week’s tip addresses a rough area with Ubuntu Linux…using wi-fi (wireless) Internet. I have had some of the same problems utilizing wireless Internet as other people, so I set out to learn more about it and find as straight forward a solution as I could. What I found was called WiFi Radar. I wrote about it in Day 3 of my 14 day Ubuntu only series. In today’s tip, I submit to you the video version of that tip.

The missing iPhone disclaimer

I am throwing this into the newsletter this week. But I will post it here because I spent too much time writing it.

The Apple iPhone came out this Friday. We have taken the opportunity to write up the disclaimer that should appear on the device, but does not.

Microsoft Sideshow to compete with iPhone

This week the tech world was given a nice surprise as Microsoft and many partners announced the SideShow device. The SideShow is a PDA-like device designed to be used with a Vista PC.

While details are still vague and only prototypes have been shown, the SideShow looks like it may prevent many windows users from switching to iPhone.

The SideShow is designed to link up to a computer via Bluetooth and it can be used for chat, email, playing solitaire, media player and perhaps even web browsing and document creation.