tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40144204951475688802024-03-08T12:06:55.093-08:00Blog from a Florida Gator in Virginia with Geek TendenciesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-76150939398135832132016-07-23T12:32:00.000-07:002016-07-23T12:32:19.387-07:00My Laptop Upgrade is Complete<span style="font-size: large;">Well, I said in my previous post that I would let everyone know how my upgrade to my laptop went. The upgrade was completed yesterday, but not without a little drama (it is no fun when it goes smoothly).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first minor problem occurred when I was informed the Dell kit would be delivered on Thursday, not Wednesday as originally promised. A minor setback, but it did try my patience a little bit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The kit was delivered Thursday afternoon by FedEx, so I immediately opened the packaging. I saw that the SSD was built by Samsung, not Dell. That is a good thing since Samsung is a leader in SSDs. I had not heard of a SSD made by Dell, so I actually was relieved that the one I got was made by Samsung.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first major task I had to do was copy the data in my hard drive in my laptop to the SSD. I had to download and install the copying software by Acronis. I attached the SSD to a USB port, my fastest one, and then executed the software. It took a little less than 2 hours to complete the data transfer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The second major task was to take out the hard drive and install the the new SSD. Here is where a major problem occurred. There were two or three screws that would not come out. I was stuck. On Friday morning between my GED classes, I went to Lowes and Home Depot to see if they had a smaller screwdriver than the one I had purchased earlier in the week, thinking that the reason the screws would not come out was that my screwdriver was not small enough to get all the way down into the grooves. I struck out at both places.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I then went to Best Buy to see if they could give me any advice on the matter. They said that if I brought in my laptop, they would look at what might be the problem for free, and then go from there. Of course, I did not have my laptop with me, and I was at the store in Manassas ( I live in Dumfries). After my classes were over, I went home to get my laptop and drove to the Best Buy in Woodbridge since it was closer to home. The guy there said that they would look at it, and if they could overcome the screw problem, they would install the SSD in 20 minutes for $40.00. I said okay. It turned out the screws were stripped, but they were able to get the screws out anyway. I would not have been able to do that, so it was good that I took my laptop to Best Buy. The SSD is working great, and the increase in speed is quite noticeable. Now that SSDs have reduced in price, I would recommend to anyone to make this kind of upgrade. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-75765399508781709332016-07-18T17:59:00.000-07:002016-07-18T17:59:41.358-07:00I Took the Plunge and Bought a SSD Drive<span style="font-size: large;">Since my laptop is made by Dell, I went on Dell's web site to research what SSDs might be compatible with my laptop. After chatting online with a Dell agent, I bought a Dell SSD kit, which includes a Dell SSD, a cable, software for copying my hard drive onto the SSD, and instructions on how to install the SSD into my laptop. The kit should arrive at my home on Wednesday. Hopefully, I will have the SSD installed on my laptop no later than Thursday, and the laptop will be running better, maybe much better. Needless to say, I am excited about doing this. I will let you know how it all pans out.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-42226199311653587812016-07-17T07:41:00.000-07:002016-07-17T07:43:27.036-07:00Upgrading My Laptop<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday I was browsing through YouTube videos when I came across a video about updating a laptop by changing the HDD hard drive to a SSD (solid-state) hard drive. A SSD has no moving parts and runs much faster than a HDD. It also cost more, but that cost has been going down just like other kinds of hardware cost go down over time. I have looked at YouTube videos on how to install one, so I am going to be brave, or maybe foolish, and install it myself after I do purchase one. Once installed, I should see a decrease in how long my laptop takes to startup and run programs. Hopefully my laptop will be a lot more pleasurable to use with the increase in speed. I will let you know how it goes. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-68656382571159997942015-01-12T12:36:00.000-08:002015-01-12T12:36:07.574-08:00Thrilled Using Google Wallet<span style="font-size: large;">I am thrilled today. Why am I so thrilled? Today I finally completed the setup of my Google Wallet account by verifying my bank checking account as a funding source for my Google Wallet account. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first thing I did after this verification was to transfer some money from my checking account into my Google Wallet account. It worked flawlessly with no extra charge for the transfer. Now I feel much safer using my Google Wallet card for payments instead of my bank debit card. My debit card has been compromised three times in about a year's time. Now if my Google Wallet card is hacked, the hackers will only get a card number that is no longer valid. So, take that, hackers! Bring it on! No longer do I have to worry about my checking account being drained of funds. No longer do I have to go through the painful process of updating user accounts with my new debit card. Hopefully I have updated my user accounts with my Google Wallet for the last time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You can see why I am thrilled. It is a good feeling going into a store and paying with my Google Wallet card. Oh, someday the hackers may find a way to hack the Google Wallet payment system, but it won't be anytime soon. I am betting that Google will be able to keep their payment system secure. It certainly is more secure than the debit/credit card payment system.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, today I am thrilled! </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-18528328990374815672015-01-05T12:09:00.000-08:002015-01-05T12:09:42.961-08:00Google Wallet, Venmo, and Credit Card Hacking<span style="font-size: large;">I have been using Google Wallet to pay for things about a month now. I usually paid the bills at Wegmans, Panera Bread, and McDonald's with the Google Wallet app on my smartphone. Then I ordered a Google Wallet card to use at vendors who do not accept payments via the smartphone. The Google Wallet card is a MasterCard card and is accepted wherever MasterCard is accepted. Now I can use Google Wallet everywhere. I used it for the first time last week at Target. It worked without a hitch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It is ironic, at least to me, that I used my Google Wallet card at Target. When credit cards were hacked a little more than a year ago at Target, my bank debit card was one of the cards that were compromised. My bank quickly gave me a new debit card, and I lost no funds as a result of the hack. Now if Target is hacked again, my bank account will be safe, or at least safer, as long as I use my Google Wallet card when I shop there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Speaking of being hacked, my bank debit card was hacked again at Staples. Again, my bank quickly gave me a new debit card last week, and I have not lost any funds as a result. It was hacked this past September, well before I started using Google Wallet. If I had been aware of Google Wallet and its capabilities before Target was hacked, my debit card would have never been compromised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As a result of being compromised again, I have been updating my debit card info with my new debit card in all the places where I use a debit card. One app that I use to transfer funds to another person is Venmo. I went to edit that app on my smartphone to add my new debit card as a funding source and delete my old credit card. After I did that, I realized something. Venmo stated on that app that the app will charge 3% if I use my debit card as a funding source for the app. However, I have not been charged anything extra when I use the app. I realized that it was my bank account that I had deleted from Venmo instead of my old debit card. I am not charged extra if I use my bank account as a funding source. I have now added back my bank account as a funding source, and it is my primary funding source when I use Venmo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was mad at myself for being careless and deleting something that I did not want to delete. Now I am glad I made that mistake. Why? Because I noticed on Google Wallet that when I transfer funds from my bank account to my Google Wallet account, I am charged a little extra. I am using my debit card as a funding source instead of my bank account, thus I am being charged a little extra. It works like Venmo does. I am now in the midst of changing my funding source on Google Wallet to my bank account instead of my debit card. I should no longer be charged extra when I do a funds transfer. One mistake on Venmo made me realize I had made a mistake on Google Wallet. Who knows how long it would have been before I discovered I did not have to pay extra when doing fund transfers in Google Wallet. At least I know now. Live and learn!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-90398402620509826862015-01-01T08:39:00.000-08:002015-01-01T08:39:51.588-08:00I Am Financially Safer This New Year's Day<span style="font-size: large;">With the advent of 2015, I feel that I am financially safer. I started using Google Wallet on my smartphone this past December. When paying with Google Wallet, you are using a one-time Google credit card number for that payment, and that number is only valid for that payment and is no longer valid after that payment. Thus if that credit card number is hacked, it is useless for any payments made by that hacker. My debit card is not used in the payment transaction, and the hacker cannot get to my debit card.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One significant drawback to Google Wallet is that it is not widely accepted by vendors. I have been able to use Google Wallet at Wegmans, Panera Bread, and McDonald's. I started to use Google Wallet when Apple Pay came out, but I don't have an iPhone, so I could not signup for Apple Pay. However, because Apple in now in the smartphone payment business, more people have been using Google Wallet. That hasn't yet encouraged more vendors to accept Google Wallet though. Given time, I think more vendors will start using Google's payment system. In the meantime, I feel a little nervous using my debit card for payment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I noticed on the Google Wallet app that it mentioned a Google Wallet card. I did some research, and Google Wallet cards are accepted at all vendors that accept MasterCard cards.. Once you activate it, your Google Wallet card is linked to your Google account on your smartphone. You must have enough money in your Google Wallet account to cover the transaction. You add money to your Google Wallet account by transferring the amount from your bank's debit card. The transfer is done via the Google Wallet app, and it just takes a couple of minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I just received my Google Wallet card yesterday, and I have activated it. I have some money in my Google Wallet account, so I am ready to use the card. Now I don't have to use my bank debit card for payments, and when I feel comfortable in doing so, I won't even have to keep my bank card with me when I am out and about. I now feel financially safer in using my Google Wallet card instead of my bank debit card. No system is perfectly safe, but at least it will be much harder for hackers to get to my bank account. Even if my Google Wallet card is stolen, the most money they can get is the amount of money in my Google Wallet account. Now all I have to do is go out and buy something with it. Yes! Progress is good! </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-8000022810977719632014-12-07T08:04:00.001-08:002014-12-07T09:53:35.952-08:00Paying for Meals and Groceries with a Smartphone<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Apple came out with their Apple Pay smartphone payment system, I wanted to be able to pay my bills with my smartphone as well because Apple was in the game and and smartphone payment systems promise secure payments. I have twice been affected by unsecured payment systems at companies. My debit card was compromised by the Target hacking debacle last year, and a few months later another company (a senior moment, I can't remember the name of the company) where I had used my debit card was hacked. Fortunately, my bank account was not affected by these breaks in security, and my bank, The Fauquier Bank, was swift in giving me a new debit card each time. It was hassle to change my card information on web sites where I pay for things online, but at least my money, what there is of it, was and still is safe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, there was a problem. In order to use Apple Pay, you have to have an iPhone. I don't have an iPhone, and I did not want to buy one to just to be able to use Apple Pay. I do have another smartphone, the first HTC One. It doesn't have Apple Pay on it, but I do have Google Wallet on it. I have started to use it at restaurants and a grocery store. I have been able to pay my restaurant bill at Panera Bread and McDonald's and my grocery bill at Wegmans, my favorite grocery store. I would like to be able to use Google Wallet everywhere I go, but that is not possible now. It is not widely accepted yet, but the debut of Apple Pay has increased the use of other smartphone payment systems such as Google Wallet. Smartphone payment systems need to be deployed everywhere because hacking of companies and of banking accounts of people occurs everyday. These systems won't stop hacking completely because no system is perfect, but they will protect people much better than what is in place now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It will be expensive to deploy these systems, but it will be more expensive not to deploy them. Look at Target. They have lost a lot of money and a lot of customers since they were hacked. Maybe if they had installed at least one of these payment systems, things would have been different for them. I was lucky. I did not lose any money when my debit card was compromised. I might not be so lucky if this happens to me again. That is why given everything else being equal, I will use an establishment that has Google Wallet over one that doesn't.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-44269825593109806942014-11-22T20:25:00.000-08:002014-11-22T20:25:49.580-08:00My Laptop is Dead! Long Live My New Laptop!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A little over two weeks ago, I saw a message on my laptop screen that I had not seen before. From the other side of the room, it did not look like a normal message. With a little trepidation, I walked over to my laptop and sat down in my desk chair. The message was indeed not normal, and it was not good. The message indicated there was a hardware problem, and the system had stopped running. I restarted the laptop, but the Windows operating system would not come up. I could not do anything on the laptop. It was effectively dead. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to see if it could be fixed. They could not determine what hardware part had failed. The Geek Squad sent it to another place to get more expertise on the problem, but they were unable to determine the cause of the failure either. They did say the mother board was probably the cause. They also said the hard drive was still good. I was relieved about that since I was worried about losing my data even though I had back ups. To make a long story short, they did not have the parts to fix it, and even if they did, it would probably cost more to fix it than for me to buy a new one. The laptop was over 6 years old, so I knew I was due for a new one. Thus it did not take much convincing to decide to buy a new laptop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have had my new laptop for 8 days now, and I am very happy with it so far. It is a Dell Inspiron 7000 series with a 15.5 inch screen, measured diagonally. The screen is high definition with super great picture definition. It is also a touch screen. It runs Windows 8.1, which I am enjoying learning. It has an Intel core i5 processor, which is quite fast enough for what I use a laptop for. It is made out of aluminum instead of plastic and looks very sharp. I am certainly getting more bang for the buck than with my last laptop. I paid over twice as much for the last laptop than this one, and the new one has so much better hardware and software. That is a normal occurrence with technology. The price goes down, and the technology is a lot better over time. Dell's reputation has gone down over the last few years, but if my new laptop is any indication, their reputation should start heading in the opposite direction. My old laptop had its day, but now its day is over. Long live the new laptop. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-64261531026549756152012-02-19T08:58:00.000-08:002012-02-19T09:40:25.883-08:00Social Media, A Work in ProgressSocial media. I am starting to learn, if only a little bit, how to use social media, thanks to Chris Pirillo and his band of Gnomies at <a href="http://lockergnome.com/">Lockergnome.com</a>. I joined the Gnomies about three weeks ago, and I have picked up a couple of tips which I am actually using in my blogging, postings, and re-tweets. It is both something and amazing to see these tips actual work. How about that. They know what they are talking about.<br />
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There is more to blogging than actually writing the blog. Before I added ads to my blog (so far I have made nothing by having ads on my blog), I would send out emails to my friends and relatives with a link to my latest posting of my blog. We are not talking about a lot of friends and relatives, but still, I was not getting a lot of reads of the postings. I did not start blogging to get rich or famous. I started it as a way to express my thoughts and feelings. If anyone read it, great. If not, that was okay, too. However after a while, I began to think it would be nice if more people read my stuff. That is just human nature.<br />
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Since I now have ads on my blogs (I actually have two blogs, one for Geeks and one for non-Geeks), I can't send out links to my blogs via email since that is self-servicing (because of the ads), and the blog postings may be unwanted, like spam. I send out links to my postings via Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. If a person wants to read my blog, that person just has to click on the link. Otherwise, the link can be ignored. I would send out the links after hitting the publish button, and again wait for the "pageviews" to climb in number. Guess what, the number of pageviews was about the same.<br />
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Then I noticed on Twitter that I would see tweets from Chris Pirillo about a blog posting or a Lockergnome article more than once in a day and on different days. Then I saw a <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/social/2012/02/15/facebook-brand-page-tips-and-tricks/">Lockergnome article</a> that talked about posting more than once on Facebook, maybe once every other day, and maybe on certain times of the day. When you think about it, with all the postings that are on social media, it is very easy to miss postings from people even if you are looking for them. Therefore it makes sense to post your links more than once. You don't want to do it too often however. The research in the Lockergnome article indicates the more postings you send out, the fewer likes, and the fewer pageviews, you get. As a result of my posting my links more than once, my pageviews are up. Granted, the number of pageviews are also going up because I have a larger audience now, the Gnomies. However yesterday, I sent out the link to a posting that was a week old. Not only did I get a bigger spike in my pageviews, but one person left a comment on that posting. I sent her a comment back, and that provided me with an opportunity to engage with that person, something any writer enjoys doing. Can't beat that.<br />
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Another tip I have received from Chris Pirillo is to add a comment to the posting when you send it out. It is like a tease to a newscast. I have started to do that not only when I send out the links to my postings, but also when I send out a link to an article I have just read and liked. I am starting to see that people are more inclined to read and comment about an article if you give them another reason for them to read the article than just the title of the article itself. If they do comment on the article, I will comment back if appropriate. It is another chance to engage with someone.<br />
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As you can see, this old dog can learn new tricks. I am learning a lot from the Gnomies, and I am looking forward to learning more. I am even starting in a small way to offer my own opinion to the group. Even Chris Pirillo knows who I am (I am the person who is always asking for help). It is great fun to learn, to teach my GED students, and to write.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-18946134518209350852012-02-18T07:53:00.000-08:002012-02-18T07:53:05.393-08:00A Simple Fix for a Slow PCA couple of weeks ago I joined a business and tech group called Gnomies. This group is led by Chris Pirillo, a well-known tech and entrepreneurial expert. If you want to know more about Gnomies, go to <a href="http://www.gnomies.com/">www.gnomies.com</a>.<br />
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This blog posting is not about Gnomies per se. This posting is about a tip that I heard from a couple of the Gnomies a few days ago, a tip that I have used before but had forgotten about. <br />
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In the process of joining Gnomies, I have been adding some software to my laptop to enable me to converse live with the Gnomies and see the Gnomies and be seen. As a result, some shortcuts have been added to my desktop. I already had quite a few shortcuts on my desktop, so my desktop was becoming cluttered. I heard these two Gnomies say that they don't have any shortcuts on their desktops, that it is just as easy to hit the start button on the bottom left of their screens and access the programs from there. That also reminded me that having a cluttered desktop can slow your system down since Windows checks the shortcuts on a frequent basis. I have noticed my system has been slowing down, especially lately with the additional shortcuts. Last night I decided to do something about that. I deleted all the shortcuts from my desktop, and now I see a noticeable difference in the response of my system. It is taking less time to start my laptop, and my system seems to be quicker in loading and running programs. I am glad the Gnomies had reminded me of this tip.<br />
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Deleting shortcuts will not solve every speed problem on a PC, but it certainly is an easy fix to try. It is another reason I am glad I joined Gnomies. This organization is dedicated to helping the members, helping each other in both tech and non-tech ways. Even Chris Pirillo, the lead Gnomie, has found time to help me on more than one occasion. This posting is an small attempt to return the favor and try to be on the giving end instead of the receiving end of help by Gnomies. After all, I am one, and I am happy to be one. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-51262387440519087742012-02-02T11:14:00.000-08:002012-02-19T09:41:28.826-08:00Is Vista Really That Bad?I have been using the Windows Vista operating system for sometime, and I have not found it to be a bad system. I have never had the dreaded "blue screen of death", which indicates that there is a very serious problem with your PC. I do not seem to be having any other serious problems with Vista. Maybe I am just use to them, and thus they, if any, don't bother me. I have wanted to install Windows 7 onto my laptop because I have heard that it is an excellent operating system, but other priorities have prevented from me doing so.<br />
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Vista made a bad start when it first came out. There were problems installing it. There were problems running it. There were a lack of compatible drivers for the PCs to interface with other equipment, like printers. Thus it has a bad reputation. I did not get my current laptop until about a year later or so later after Vista came out. By then most of these problems had been resolved. Thus I have not seen or endured through any of Vista's initial problems. There is nothing wrong with Vista now that makes me want to upgrade to Windows 7. It would be nice to have the enhancements of Windows 7, but Vista is running fine on my PC now.<br />
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Given that my experience with Vista is not unique, it goes to show you how important first impressions are. Vista did not have a good first impression, and it is still paying for that. Windows 7 made a good first impression (Microsoft certainly learned its lesson), and it has a good reputation. I have been told that I should always make a good first impression. I guess that adage applies to operating systems as well.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-49364055279249648772012-01-21T10:07:00.000-08:002012-01-21T10:07:11.178-08:00Blocking Ads on Web SitesFor a long time I have been using Firefox as my default web browser, and I have been very happy with it. One of the reasons I was happy with it was I was using an extension which blocks ads on the web sites that I visited. I find ads to be annoying, and they can clutter a web page. I almost never read an ad, so I was happy being able to block them.<br />
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A few weeks ago, I switched to Google Chrome as my default we browser. I find Google Chrome to be a noticeably faster web browser than Firefox. I was happy with it, but I was not completely happy because I could not find a way to block the ads I was now seeing on the web pages. Then on January 3, I read an article by Craighton Miller on lockergnome.com concerning Google Chrome extensions (click <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/craighton/2012/01/03/top-10-google-chrome-extensions/">here</a> if you would like to read the article). I proceeded to figure how to get to the extensions on Google Chrome (it just takes two clicks of the mouse), and then I saw saw what I was looking for, an extension called AdBlock, which unsurprisingly blocks ads on web pages. Ah, the holy grail! Now I see no ads, no clutter, just the stuff I want to see.<br />
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But wait! At the end of Craighton Miller's article on extensions, there is a paragraph on why one should not use an ad blocker. Ads on web sites are sources of revenue for the people who produce the web sites. Thus if you are using an ad blocker, you in effect are stealing from these people. You are not getting that money, but the producers of the web site are not getting the money either. That money helps to defray the cost of producing that web site. I felt a little guilty after reading that paragraph, but not guilty enough. I went ahead and installed AdBlock.<br />
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A day or two later on one of the The Lockergnome Daily Report (TLDR) videos, Chris Pirillo said that if you are using an ad blocker on the lockergnome web sites, you are not really a supporter of the lockergnome community. Guilt, and more guilt. Well, I wondered if there was a way to customize AdBlock so that I would not be blocking ads on the lockergnome sites. Yes indeed, there is a way to not block ads on a particular site. So I am now not blocking ads on lockergnome web sites, but my guilt has not gone completely away. <br />
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What about the producers of other web sites? Are I not keeping them from potential revenue (they only get the revenue if I click on an ad on their web site)? Maybe I should not be using AdBlock at all. Now this instant, I have just uninstalled AdBlock. I am no longer blocking ads on any web site that I visit. My guilt is gone. I will see more stuff on the web pages, but I will learn to deal with it. Perhaps I might see something that I might benefit from in an ad. Maybe this change will actually be a win-win situation for both the web site producers and myself. Certainly nothing wrong with that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-39323697461520949692012-01-08T10:40:00.000-08:002012-02-19T11:15:21.461-08:00What If Certain Events Had Not Occurred?Time travel has often been used in novels, TV shows, and movies, especially of the science fiction variety. Even if you are not a science fiction fan, I am sure you have wondered what it would be like to travel back in time to witness historical events. Maybe you have wanted to go back in time to do something differently, whether that is for someone else's benefit or for your own benefit. I know I have. When I was at Washington and Lee University my freshman year, I had the choice of going to second visits of two fraternities. One fraternity had a studious reputation while the other had more of a party atmosphere. I chose to go to the second fraternity's party, in part because they paid a lot of attention to me at their first visit, and I ended up not being asked to join that fraternity. There certainly was no guarantee that I would have been asked to join the first fraternity if I had chosen to go to their second visit, but I have a feeling my life would have been different if I had gone to their party. I ended up not joining a fraternity at W & L, and I transferred to the University of Florida after my sophomore year. I am not saying my life would have been better or worse if I had joined a fraternity and stayed at W & L. I think my life would have been different. It is not often that you can look back on your life and see crossroads where your life could have been different if you had made a different decision. I think that fraternity visit decision was such a crossroad for me.<br />
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Well, what made you think about this, you may ask me. A few days ago I read an article on lockergnome.com called <i>11/22/63: The Stephen King Novel for Science Fiction Fans</i>. The article is by Robert Glen Fogarty, and you can read the article by clicking <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/media/2012/01/06/112263-the-stephen-king-novel-for-science-fiction-fans/">here</a>. In case you do not know, 11/22/63 is the day when President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. In the book <i>11/22/63 </i>(this is not a horror story), someone goes back in time to prevent the assassination. The rest of the book concerns the change in the timeline that results from President Kennedy not being killed then. I have just started reading this book on my Nook, so I don't know what changes to history Stephen King has written in this book. I know I have often thought about how things would have been different. I certainly do not think President Kennedy would have sent troops to Vietnam if he had lived. Who knows what else may have been different. It is all speculation anyway. We will never know one way or another. I have just finished reading another book called <i>Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero</i> by Chris Matthews, so President Kennedy has been on my mind of late. <br />
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I believe Kennedy's assassination was a crossroad for our country. I think possibly our country would be different today if this event had not happened. Similar to my own crossroad, I am not saying things would be better if he had lived. Things might be worse. Again, we will never know one way or another. However, that does not mean we can't think about such possibilities. It is fun to do so. Perhaps though we should not think about such things too much. We can't change the past no matter how much we may want to. We can change our future by learning from the past. That would worth spending our time on.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-2100229673313678192012-01-02T07:51:00.000-08:002012-01-02T07:51:16.524-08:00Combining Blogs?On December 29, 2010, I wrote my first posting on a blog. I guess that means I just passed my first anniversary as a blogger. There was no notice of that milestone in <i>Time</i> magazine. How could they have missed that? If you want to read that posting and the other postings I have made, click <a href="http://blugatr.blogspot.com/">here</a>.<br />
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But wait! You don't see any of my recent postings on that blog? What happened? This past summer I bought a T-Mobile smartphone. The saleslady said I needed to setup a Google account since I was buying an Android smartphone. In all of the excitement of buying this new phone, I forgot that I had already had a Google account, blugatr. I wish I had remembered that name since I like the blugatr name better than the name bradto36, the Google account name this blog is under. What I would like to do combine the blog under the blugatr Google account with the bradto36 account. In case you don't know, a Google account contains an email account, Google+ account, blogs, Google docs account, and a YouTube account as well as other types of accounts.<br />
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Everyone now has my email address under the bradto36 name. My main email address was an AOL email address, so I do not want to go through the same process of changing my email address from the AOL one to the bradto36 one to change the bradto36 email address to the blugatr email address even though I like the blugatr address better. Thus my question is can I combine the two blogs? Can I move my blugatr blog postings with any of their comments to the bradto36 blog postings? Both blogs are blogspot blogs, which are hosted by Google. I would appreciate any help you can give me. Much thanks!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-6901739998956775882012-01-01T20:14:00.000-08:002012-02-19T11:29:01.784-08:00Backing Up Your Data in the CloudAll of us know how important it is to backup the data that is on your computer. I found that the hard way myself when a hard drive in one of my laptops crashed a few years ago. I didn't have any personal data on that laptop, so it could have been a worse disaster. Now I backup up the data on my laptop onto an external hard drive which is attached to my laptop. However, that does not mean you are fully protected when you backup your data onto an external drive.. What if you lose your external hard drive?What if it is stolen? What if your external hard drive fills up to capacity (buy a bigger hard drive)? What if there is a fire or something that destroys your house along with your laptop and any external hard drives?<br />
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I was reminded of these concerns when I read an article about backing up your data, the article being called "How (and Why) to Backup Your Data" by Eddie Ringle (click <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/news/2011/12/29/how-and-why-to-back-up-your-data/">here</a> to read the article). These days there is an alternate way to backing up your data. You can backup your data to the "cloud". The cloud really is referring to servers located who knows where, certainly not in your house, but servers that your data is stored on. Several companies offer storing your data in their version of the cloud, three companies being Amazon, Google, and Apple. For a few weeks now I have been storing my music in the cloud via Google Music. Now I can access my music from my mobile phone wherever I go, and I don't have to worry about running out of storage space for my music on my phone. My music is in the cloud.<br />
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Google's version of the cloud is called Google Docs. One part of that is called Google Cloud Connect. With this, you can store all your Microsoft Office documents, those being Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and the like, in Google Docs. This takes a little time to do as I am storing them by syncing them one document at a time (I don't know if there is a faster way to do this). For those documents that are now in the cloud, it takes a little longer to access them and a little longer to save them. Perhaps if I had a faster WiFi connection, I would have faster access to my data in the cloud. So far this cloud service is free. The only real concern I see about storing data in the cloud is the case either my internet connection goes down or the cloud goes down. I have not had such a problem in the short time I have had any of my data in the cloud, but there is a chance of such a problem occurring. If companies that offer cloud services cannot provide reliable access to the data in the cloud, storing data in the cloud will not be a good alternative for backing up your data.<br />
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Addendum - After I wrote this posting, I signed up to backup all my documents, pictures, financial data, and the like to Apple's iDrive. It took over two days to upload my data to the iDrive, but the reason for that is largely due to my slower router (the slower g router versus the faster n router) and my DSL internet connection. I have taken a big step to protect my data. I hope the cloud does not let me down.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-46518052890483549572011-12-30T07:05:00.000-08:002011-12-30T07:05:22.223-08:00Searching for Intelligent Extra-TerrestrialsDo you believe that there is life on other places besides the earth? Do you believe that there is intelligent life not on the earth (the jury is out on there being intelligent life on earth, I sometimes wonder)? I certainly believe that there is life on other planets. I even believe that there is intelligent life on other planets. <br />
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The earth is a very special place. It is our home. But the earth is not that special. We have discovered planets around other stars in our galaxy, some of them being almost earth-like, and that search for other planets has just scratched the surface. Are there planets out there that can support life? Of the planets discovered so far, the number being hundreds of them, there are very few that might support life, at least life as we know it. However, there are over 300 billion stars in our galaxy, so I think the chances are good that there are other planets that support life. <br />
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Do any of those planets support intelligent life? There is less of a chance that there is intelligent life on other planets, but I don't think that chance is zero. However, intelligent life has not been on earth very long. Earth is about 4 billion years old. Homo sapiens, our species, has been around for only 160,000 years. That is not a long time when you compare it to the age of the earth. Thus when we are looking for intelligent life in other star systems, those planets there may have life, but they may not have intelligent life at that time, if ever, when you consider how long it has taken intelligent life to evolve here on earth.<br />
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Does that mean that we should not look for intelligent life elsewhere. Certainly not. If we do detect intelligent life on other planets, we will have the answer to perhaps our most important question, are we alone. If the answer is we are not alone, that can change how we think of ourselves and maybe how we act. Maybe we can really act intelligent and start solving some really important problems we have, like poverty, hunger, and illiteracy, among others.<br />
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Several years ago I participated in the search for intelligent life. I automatically downloaded data from SETI@home (SETI stands for Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) and processed the data using their software to see if there were non-natural signals in the data obtained from star systems. I quit that search when the laptop I was using broke, and I never resumed that search on another PC until yesterday. A couple of days ago, I read an article about SETI (if you want to read that article, click <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/news/2011/12/28/how-to-search-for-extra-terrestrial-intelligence-using-your-pc/">here</a>). Yesterday I downloaded the software, and now I am processing my first data packet. At this moment, I am 36% complete after processing for 6 hours, and I have 8 hours of processing to go. The software runs when your PC is not doing much else. I don't really think I will get any hits, but the prospect of doing so is quite thrilling. <br />
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Will we actually meet aliens or talk with aliens? I don't think so because the distances between star systems is so great. However, just knowing that we are not alone may have a great positive impact on our society.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-13645032374100314382011-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:002011-12-29T09:48:27.841-08:00A New Web BrowserA couple of weeks ago, I decided to try the web browser by Google called Google Chrome. I have been using the browser Firefox for quite sometime, but I have been slowly using Google applications more and more ever since I bought my Android smartphone this summer. So I wanted to see what Google Chrome is like. Google Chrome seems to be a simpler browser with less functions than Firefox (I can't find a way to block ads in Google Chrome like I can in Firefox), but it is a faster browser than Firefox as a result. I have noticed that the Scrabble game in Facebook loads faster in Google than in Firefox and that web pages overall are loading faster in Google Chrome. As a result, I have made Google Chrome my default browser, at least for now. I may change my mind, but so far I am happy with Google Chrome.<br />
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If you want to try Google Chrome yourself, click <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95346">here</a>.<br />
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Yesterday I saw an article about "Top 10 Essential Google Chrome Apps". If you want to read the article, click <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/craighton/2011/12/28/top-10-essential-google-chrome-apps/">here</a>. I am trying one of the apps now, Wunderlist. This apps lets you create lists of tasks you wish to accomplish, and you have the option to assign a due date. I have even downloaded the mobile version of this app onto my smartphone. I hope this will help me do a better job of organizing my work. I will report later how successful I am with this app.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4014420495147568880.post-76920427934714585692011-12-17T07:46:00.000-08:002011-12-17T07:46:56.077-08:00A Man Behind the TimesAs many of you may know, I primarily teach GED classes for a living. This past week in one of my classes, I brought two laptops to the class so that two of my students could work on GED questions and problems by using the GED software on the laptops. One of my students has used this program many times. To my surprise, the other student had never even used a laptop, or any computer, before. He said the only technology of any consequence he used was a cell phone that made and received phone calls and texted messages. He was very content not to use technology in his work. He was used to doing things that way and did not see a reason to change. I encouraged him to learn how to use the technology of the day because it can make him more productive. He finally said that the reason he did not use technology was that he had seen people become addicted to technology, and he did not want that to happen to him.<br />
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It has been a while since I have taught anyone how to use a computer. Kids these days seem to know how to use technology from the time they are born. I enjoyed showing my GED student how to use the cursor to navigate around the laptop. I am not sure he will remember everything I told him, but he said he enjoyed working on the laptop. He also said he wanted to continue working on the laptop, and I said I would start bringing the laptop to class all the time for him to work on. Now that I think back on it, I was being like a drug pusher when I told my student how productive he can be using technology, and I am enabling him by bringing the laptop to class all the time. I have put him on the path of addiction, addiction to technology. Yes, technology can be addictive. I even wrote a blog post this summer about my addiction to my smartphone. There is both a good side and bad side to just about anything. I really don't think my student will become addicted to technology, if nothing else because he is aware of the danger. We all have to be aware of the danger.<br />
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My student being behind the times and not using technology sure blew apart one of my assumptions about people. I thought everyone knows their way around a computer. Even if you don't have a computer, you should be exposed to computers via school or work. However, my student comes from another country. Perhaps his family did not have the means to get a computer. Perhaps the schools he went to did not have computers. If I remember correctly, I don't think he finished 9th grade. Perhaps he had jobs that did not use computers. Not everyone has been raised in the environment we have in the United States, and it is not the same environment everywhere in this country. You just can't assume everyone has the same knowledge base. I found that out this week, for sure.<br />
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I even found out last night that I am not up to speed on akk technology subjects. I had heard about QR codes, but I did not realize how much information they contain and how many uses there are for them. I just thought they are another version of the barcode that we find on all the items we buy. Not so. They can contain contact information. They can open up a web site for you on your smartphone. I am sure there are other uses for QR codes. Our knowledge base is always evolving. If your knowledge base is not evolving, you are not learning. If you are not learning, then you must be dead. We are all learning something everyday no matter if we realize it or not.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11267631301323860247noreply@blogger.com2