In addition to desktop computers, free wifi, books, magazines, and DVD, the Brainerd Public library will have Apple iPad tablets this September. iPads will be available for training as well as use in the library.
Here is a video from Lakeland Public Television:
Category: tech culture
When Electricity first started DC power (direct current) was used. Things were switched to AC (alternating current) power to make things safer. But now more and more devices run on DC power even if they are plugged into an AC outlet.
I believe that buildings need to start going away from universal 110 -120 volt ac power (or whatever the standard is for the country) and switch to low voltage DC power for at least a major part of the building (not for the entire building).
Why? Many electronics as mentioned before use DC power, and to do that every device plugged in to the wall uses a Power Supply unit to convert it into DC power. These units can fail, and can go missing. The PSU can be in a computer or in one of those boxes you see on power chords or phone chargers, or built in to the electronic.
It would allow for more efficient streamlined use of solar power or other renewable and off the grid energy sources.
LED lights run well on DC power. Mobile phones tablets and many other devices could plug right into the wall without a special psu box, and the USB port (or whatever technology) wouldn’t need a conversion to DC either. The great thing about most mobile phones and tablets, and many other devices is they are already standardized to the USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface and many of the newer technologies allow for backwards compatibility to USB.
To do this some devices would need to be changed: desktop computers could have PSU removed. Laptops would have to have a new standardized plug (and possibly new standardized voltages). Besides PSUs draining energy, they are prone to failure, and can hold a dangerous electric charge that can be a shock hazard and in rare cases fire hazard.
Wall plugs would have to change, it could be USB, or something compatible. (I like the lightning plug that is on the phone side of the Apple iPhone since it’s less likely to break or get dirty)
One of the main reasons solar power or any other power sources aren’t efficient as it can be is because of all the unnecessary (in today’s world) conversions (and transporting). Renewable sources work best when everything they power is energy efficient.
I think these concepts would work well on new buildings, buildings doing a major renovation, and buildings that are in remote locations where electricity is hard to get or unreliable.
And it doesn’t need to be done for a whole building or all electronics, it can be done for just some of the electronics to start.
Another concept during the day similar to a sky light, you could use fiber optics to use natural lighting from sun without any conversions (maybe some mirrors to capture and UV filter) no photovoltaic cells or electricity needed and it can be done on multiple floors and without ruining insulation (R Values) and without ruining fire barriers. Night time solar powered battery LED lighting could be used with the fiber optics.
Nathan Steffenson Published July 20 2014
Disclaimer: This is currently just a concept. I’m not an electrician and have no prototype. Although not all working together as a system, many of these components exist and are readily available. I haven’t done thorough research for prior art.
Categories
Launch
Space ship launched at 11:52am CDT Sunday http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/
First I’m not a medical professional, and this is Not medical advice as everyone’s body is a little bit different. However this is an important for anyone that uses these and similar devices.
- Take breaks from your computer, TV, smart phone, tablet. For your eyes and the rest of your body it is good to take breaks from all of these. If you have other things to do you not using these devices you can do that (so it doesn’t always have to be an actual work break).
- Reduce the time that you use these devices.
- Don’t retype things that are already typed. Don’t rescan items already in electronic form. This will save you work and less stress on you and your body.
- When lifting anything heavy (including electronics) get help, avoid using backpacks(for my bike I use a bike rack with a bike trunk with Quick MTX Track), and when possible avoid the heavy lifting and transporting altogether,
- Take care of your body with exercise, enough sleep and rest, and eating properly, and everything else you need to do take care of your body. Exercising or even just getting out of your home to socialize with others will help your brain more than any video game such as http://www.lumosity.com/. Your brain is a physical part of your body so it needs to be taken care of well physically as well. Studying some, then Sleeping and eating breakfast will help you better on a test than staying up studying all night
- Exercising doesn’t necessarily have to mean going to the gym (although that can help) I bike or walk to most places I go instead of driving.
- Cleaning, gardening, raking, or grocery shopping can be exercise.
- If you drive to a place, parking farther away can help you get more exercise and maybe make it easier to have a parking spot.
- Use proper electrical equipment. Avoid extension chords. Avoid eating and drinking by computers, phones, tablets. Avoid getting water on equipment. Fiberoptic to the building instead of copper wires helps avoid damage by lightning.
- Turn TVs, smart phones, tablets, computers off at night if you have trouble sleeping and if possible avoid having them in the bedroom.
- Make sure you are using proper furniture with any of these devices. Avoiding falling from chairs, and avoiding equipment coming down on you. Having furniture that will let you have good posture. Proper Ergonomics.
- Take advantage of technology that reduces pain:
- If speech recognition is easier than typing or tapping on screen for you, I recommend using it. And use accessibility settings that help you, I sometimes have my computer read selected text out loud to me.
- If you like natural light better for reading then you can use an e-reader that uses e-ink such as certain Kindles or Nooks. (I personally don’t have these since I like to minimize the devices I use)
- I use washing and drying machines for laundry and do other things while it works. (the same can apply if you have a device like a dishwasher, or automatic bread maker which I don’t have due to my small apartment)
- I use a robot vacuum to vacuum while I’m gone. I still need to keep things off the floor and clean the vacuum itself.
- Use autosave feature and automatic backup so you don’t have to redo your work. Email, written drafts, and timed posts can help.
- Do other non-computer things, while your computer is doing large processing tasks.
- Use cloud, online storage, file sharing, web mail, and other services to avoid physically transporting media.
- You may want to also consider getting professional help with assisting you with your health : like an eye doctor to see if you need glasses, a general practice physician, an ergonomics professional / Ergonomist for the safety around your desk/device/work place, and even dentist for your teeth.
Additional resources
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ergonomics/
How do you get around traveling. Bring this up for Thanksgiving, the biggest Travel holiday in the United States.
One way you can use online video conferencing tools such as Skype with people farther away, and be with friends and family that are closer. Or sometimes an email or phone call can work.
By far away, I don’t mean just different countries or different states, it could be as little as 40 miles away or less which can be tough to travel in a snow storm, or just the darkness of this time a year in Minnesota.
More on this topic in my new book “Datacommuting”. available on iBooks, Amazon (Kindle) and Nook
Categories
Contributions made by Gmail
You may have heard about privacy issues with Gmail, which have always been publicized as a problem.
Gmail from Google brought these advancements.
- Labels: also known as tags. They were one of the first (if not the first) to use these with email instead of folders. Tags of course were used by things other than email before this, but it was still an advancement. This has been adapted by other email programs and even operating systems.
- Conversation view. To keep things organized with who you are writing to. Other programs have adapted this.
- Keep it, don’t print or delete. Gmail let people have enough storage, So people don’t do unproductive things like print and delete emails.
- Accessibility: Made their email available in almost any email program, allowed forwarding, and compatible with most mobile devices.
- Allow people to use their own domain with Google Apps.
- powerful email search.
- Strong junk email filter: It errors on being too strong at times.
- Ads relevant to you: Some people like this. Others consider this intrusion of privacy.
Do you use Gmail? I use to, but I no longer use Gmail because of possible privacy concerns.
Categories
"Hackers"
I was asked
It isn’t just hackers that cause computer problems?
No. many problems are caused by users themselves. Many because of users lack of knowledge – or in some cases problems with there senses. sometimes problems also happen to be glitches or bugs in software.
People will blame the last person fixing their computer or friend for problems that they actually caused themselves.
Many times people download too many programs on their computer that makes it slow, or sometimes download programs that do jeopardize the security on their computer. Also when typing passwords, people might not remember them, or mistype them and get locked out for their accounts own good.
Of course physical problems like battery issues on portables, hard drives on notebooks, or dust in desktop computers can also mess things up.
And of course you need to make sure that you don’t let other people use your computer unless you trust them well.
Another thing we have to think of is: what is a hacker?
A hacker on a technical definition simply means a programmer and does not necessarily doing illegal or unethical activities. I have also seen it mean someone that is just exploring. The main stream media (even sometimes society) uses the term hacker broadly and usually in a negative way.
A cracker on the other hand tries to get into places that they should not.
There really are people that take advantage of others on computers, and over the Internet. However, we need to make sure we really know how to use our computers before we blame others.
Categories
Coffee and computers
Coffee and computers are shown together a lot.
- Coffee shops offer Internet access.
- even programming languages named after coffees (Java and JavaScript )
However, the truth is computer hardware hates coffee. One spill can be the last for your notebook or tablet.
And it is a bad habit for the environment too, even if you reuse a germ filled cup.
Of course it is a good idea, to keep any drink or food (or young kids or pets) away from your computer.
I’m not completely paperless but I’m working at it. Here are some my personal reasons for being paperless:
- I have been using paper myself too much for too long, mainly with school. I needed to learn to conserve paper so I don’t cause problems.
- I kept too much of the paper I received. I was being a hoarder with papers I either received or printed or written on myself. I would keep papers from school many years after graduating. keep receipts from the day before up to 10 years old. To keep the important information I realized that I needed a scanning system for that and bought the NeatReceipts portable scanner that came with NeatWorks for my Macintosh computer.
- I don’t have enough room at my apartment or office for keeping papers. I pay very low rent, partly because I had a small office and have small apartment.
- I have trouble reading papers and books because I sometimes have had trouble bending my neck and my eyes have got worse. So it is easier for me to read on a computer screen, and when it is a long article I sometimes have the computer read it with text to speech. Also, it is easier for me to read street signs and look at artwork on a wall.
- Doesn’t happen too often but every once in a while I have got paper cuts. I also hurt myself once with a paper cutter that I immediatly got rid of after it happened.
- It is too expensive if I’m not conserving paper. I even quit all print (on paper) advertising. For me, Not only did print advertising not pay for itself, it brought too many telephone solicitations.
So I may have a few more personal reasons than others to attempt to be paperless. Or at least to conserve as much paper as possible. I still keep bath tissue handy.
2015 Update: temporarily going without an office. Update on Neat scanner
1. Some people think Computer Technicians are just for problems
sorry they are not (; but let’s get to the actual list of problems I see with computers.
1. Software Problems – including malware, bloatware, not knowing how to use software, making sure data is backed up.
2. Dirty Computers – even if you have a clean house or office – is your computer clean? I am not talking about software here. Many computers are physically dirty and that is the number one reason for hardware problems that I have seen. this is the number one reason power supplies, and system boards I’ve seen fail. It is also one of the main reasons hard drives and optical drives fail.
The fallowing are not necessarily in exact order but the order I see.
3. Problems that need to be solved with the Internet Service Provider.. but the customers do not want to deal with them themselves
4. Notebook problems although they are portable, they still have a lot of delicate parts:
including the Power Supply connection, hard drive, keyboard, then screen – pretty much in that order.
5. Problems from moving a desktop computer such as memory issues, and hard drive issues.
6. removable Laptop batteries
7. cmos battery
8. Modem / surge protector wrecked by power surges through telephone line – not as common anymore since widespread fiber optic use.
9. manufacturer reasons- I put this last, however many of the problems above could have been avoided by a better manufacturing / design process.
2015 update: flash storage such as Solid State Drives can dramatically improve performance opposed to keeping spinning hard disc drives.