www.code.org made a short video series of how computers work in simple terms
input storage process output
Category: computer tips
There are at least 2 different ways of getting maps on your mobile phone for GPS navigation without having to use cellular data:
- download an app that has an entire map set such as TomTom
- Google maps app lets you download a portion of a map for “offline access” iOS Android
Of course you could use a stand alone gps or paper maps too. But who wants to buy or carry the extra things?
A lot of times I talk about the energy savings of what I do but rarely talk about the money I save (at least on this blog). Doing these requires a change in attitude and behavior.
- I save thousands of dollars every year by giving up my car ( I still have my drivers license).
- Saving on repairs, oil changes, car washes, parking, insurance, and gasoline.
- It also improves my health greatly and reduces my impact on the environment.
- I do this through several means including biking more, using web based services, and walking.
- more about this in my ebook Datacommuting available on iBooks, Amazon (Kindle) and Nook
- I save by not having a printer.
- This not only directly saves money on toner or ink, paper and electricity but also saves a lot of space.
- This is both the space the printer itself takes up and the space it takes to retain paper documents.
- Documents are digitally stored.
- When I need something printed I go to library, or print shop, or photo processor.
- I still use scanners to scan in photos and documents that are not already available in digital form.
- I save hundreds of dollars a year by having a prepaid phone instead of a contract phone.
- My smart phone is over 3 years old so I’m saving money by not buying a new phone.
- Unfortunately the plan I have isn’t available any more for new customers but my carrier is allowing me to stay on that plan.
- I avoid using devices with disposable batteries.
- My bike lights use a dynamo in the wheel hub.
- My keyboard is solar powered.
- I use dynamo (crank powered) flashlights and radio
- other devices use rechargeable batteries
- some devices I eliminate altogether (like devices that a smart phone app can replace)
- Using LED lights not only saves electricity, but they rarely need to be replaced.
- There are other simple ways I save by not having bad habits such as drinking pop or coffee or worse.
- I save money by not eating meat sometimes
- I avoid using plastic grocery bags (by using reusable bags and my bike packs) and the bags I do get such as those that have bread or vegetables I reuse as waste basket liner.
I show cleaning a smart phone and case using electronic cleaning wipes, a pic, microfiber cloth, and a blower tool. The phone used in this video is an Apple iPhone 5c.
An iPhone 5c (the plastic version with different colors) has lasted over 3 and half years. One time recently It was able to keep a charge (without being charged) for 2 weeks. It was shut off for quite a bit of that time.
running short on blog post so I thought I’d share that
Categories
After the Storm in Duluth
more recent videos:
Central Lakes College now offers some classes that do not use textbooks. There are some benefits to this.
- Students spend a lot of money on textbooks
- The paper textbooks can be very heavy causing back problems and even problems with brain and vision when carried in a backpack.
- Ebooks are nice, less to carry, and allow authors (and artist and photographers) to be paid for their work, however some formats do not work with every device.
- CLC leaves it up to the instructor to choose the textbook so different instructors will use different books anyway. Sometimes different books have to be bought for the advanced class after the beginning class.
- Some classes I had to buy textbooks that were never even used as part of the instruction of the class.
I set table first. I put broken in thirds thin spaghetti in water with salt put the magnetic induction cooktop at 220 F timed to turn off in 9 minutes. Then put it in Another pan over the stove with the lid on it. I put rolls from a can on a cookie sheet sprayed with canola oil in the gas oven at 400 degrees fareignheight. set my timer on my smart phone for 10 minutes. Then started the sauce with vegetable spaghetti sauce and soy veggie crumbles at 220 F timed to automatically turn off 5 minutes then checked it cooked another 5 minutes. Turned off oven I got a bag salad, but added blue berries and strawberries on top. For my friend, salad I made for her was just berries. She came and left, my parents came, and she came back. I started putting it on the table.
the following is from an email resent by Minnesota Revenue
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies, and the tax industry today warned tax professionals to be alert to a new phishing email scam impersonating tax software providers and attempting to steal usernames and passwords.
This sophisticated scam yet again displays cybercriminals’ tax savvy and underscores the need for tax professionals to take strong security measures to protect their clients and protect their business. This is the time of year when many software providers issue software upgrades and when tax professionals are working to meet the Oct. 15 deadline for extension filers.
These types of phishing scams are why the IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry, acting as the Security Summit, launched the 10-week Don’t Take the Bait campaign currently underway. This awareness effort highlights the many tactics of cybercriminals as well as the steps tax professionals can take to protect their clients and themselves.
This latest scam email variation comes with a subject line of “Software Support Update” and highlights an “Important Software System Upgrade.” It thanks recipients for continuing to trust the software provider to serve their tax preparation needs and mimics the software providers’ email templates.
The e-mail informs the recipients that due to a recent software upgrade, the preparer must revalidate their login credentials. It provides a link to a fictitious website that mirrors the software provider’s actual login page.
Instead of upgrading software, the tax professionals are providing their information to cybercriminals who use the stolen credentials to access the preparers’ accounts and to steal client information.
The Security Summit reminds tax professionals that software providers do not embed links into emails asking them to validate passwords. Also, tax professionals and taxpayers should never open a link or an attachment from a suspicious email.
Tax professionals can review additional tips to protect clients and themselves at Protect Your Clients, Protect Yourself on IRS.gov.
Tax professionals who receive emails purportedly from their tax software providers seeking login credentials should send those scam emails to their tax software provider.
For Windows users, follow this process to help the investigation of these scam emails:
- Use “Save As” to save the scam. Under “save as type” in the drop-down menu, select “plain text” and save to the desktop. Do not click on any links.
- Open a new email and attach this saved email as a file.
- Send a new email containing the attachment to the tax software provider, as well as a copy to Phishing@IRS.gov.
Make Earth Day Every day we are here everyday.
I show several ways how I reduce paper.
screen shots from Apple Notes, Calendar, Reminders, and Contacts. http://apple.com
Additional screen shots from Neat software. http://neatco.com
web screen shots
Nate’s Computer Services http://www.natesservices.com
Godaddy bookkeeping https://godaddy.com
CTC http://www.ctctelcom.com
Medicare http://www.medicare.gov
MidMinnesota Credit Union https://mmfcu.org
http://www.optoutprescreen.com/
http://www.yellowpagesoptout.com/
http://www.dmachoice.org/
Minnesota http://www.revenue.state.mn.us