Categories
beware of scams tech culture

Thoughts on Forwards

There is one thing that bothers me more than junk email (spam) when it comes to email. Misuse of forwards FWD FW.

  • Email Forwards are usually sent by people you know and trust.  However many times the information in forwards is not trustworthy and may not even be what your friend or relative actually thinks.
  • Many forwards I get have completely made up information, that can be easily be found to be false or partially false with just a little fact checking.
  • I have found an interesting and useful urban legends web site that deals with some of these http://www.snopes.com
  • Even though an email may be true at one time, parts can be changed to make it at least partially untrue.
  • Some forwards have very controversial information or opinions – many anonymous or miscredited.
  • Some forwards say you have to forward to so many people or say that you have to give it back to show you’re really a friend.   This can be a good way to spread annoying emails.  Do you really have to reply to a forward, that they didn’t write, to show you are a friend?   Some of these emails say you’ll get something free for sending so many – I have never found that to be true.
  • Some forwards are fill in the blank and forward.  This might be giving too much information out.
  • Some forwards have copyrighted text and images that might be illegally redistributed.
  • One misuse of forwards is redistributing a private conversation.  This can be very hurtful to some people.
  • Another misuse related to forwarding is telling everyone to write to one particular person, which can overwhelm someone.
  • Many forwards are basically chain letters.  Chain letters are of course illegal to send in the US Mail.  Email is still fairly unregulated (or hard to regulate) and unsecured.  I would advise people to avoid sending these forwarded emails.
  • After a while the people that send me forwards, I usually ask them to stop sending it.
Categories
computer tips

Thoughts on washing hands with computer equipment

We all are told to wash our hands often.
So I know we get told this a lot. Even I forget or can’t sometimes, but here are some more thoughts.
Reasons to wash hands with computers, phones, electronics:

  1. Wash before to keep equipment clean for you and other users.
  2. More importantly Wash afterward – to keep yourself healthy from the germs and hazardous chemicals that may be on the equipment.

The chemicals and germs may be another reason not to eat by the computer if possible.

Categories
computer tips energy efficiency Going Green

Power Saving Tips

Here are some general power saving tips (many that you may already know)

  • Unplug USB Devices when not using them (make sure to eject/remove properly if it stores data)
  • Unplug charges and other devices when turned off and not being used from electric outlet.
    • Have your monitor turn off automatically when computer is not in use.
    • Have your computer go to sleep.
    • Automatically have your computer turn off and on at a certain time if the computer is not used during certain hours.
      • These settings are in the control panel in windows usually under power options
      • These settings are in the system preferences in Mac OS X under energy saver
  • Usually when people ask if they should power their computer off, I say they can but only at night or the time they are not using it. The computer should only be powered on once per day at the most. It is OK to do a soft restart to clear the memory and run start up scripts. Remember to shut down properly if possible. Sometimes people will leave their computer on at night or off hours to do anti-virus/anti-malware scans, updates, backups, and run other utilities.
  • Hopefully you aren’t printing all the time unless printing is necessary part of your business. Unless you print all the time printers are usually a good thing to leave off, or turn off during off hours if there are no printing jobs. Or eliminate having a printer all together.
  • Use energy efficient equipment.
Categories
Going Green

What to do with Shredded paper

Do you shred old papers?
Here are some uses I have seen for it:
Recyclable Packing Material
Recyclable Confetti
Rabbit Bedding
or just recycle shredded paper in paper recycling.
Have you seen another use? add your comment.

Categories
computer tips Going Green

Recommended Monitor Type

I recommend LED back-lit LCDs for monitor types.
They are free of mercury and lead. They are slim and power efficient. They have good coloring and are easier on the eyes than florescent or CRTs.
OLEDs are also an upcoming type of monitors to look into, however they may have more of a limited lifespan.
Should I through out my old monitor (CRT or florescent)?
No. If you want to get rid of it you need to recycle it.
Pros of replacing it – save power, less heat, more room, better for eyes
Pros of keeping it – save money on buying a new one and hauling old one out, less waste

Categories
computer tips tech culture

Peer to Peer File Sharing Software

March 29 Sen. Klobuchar introduced legislation concerning online file sharing software such as LimeWire, BitTorrent, and uTorrent. I have personally seen many computers files and software damaged because uses of these programs. It can also overwhelm networks. Also thieves can sometimes retrieve private data from your computer. Many times these programs are installed by kids of the owners of the computers to download music, video, and games from other computers. This software may also possibly get you in copyright trouble, even if used correctly due to flaws in the software. I advise NOT to use most peer to peer file sharing software. I’m not sure how much the legislation can do, but I don’t think it will hurt.

Categories
computer tips tech culture

What we're really going to use a computer for

When people look for computers (or phones, or internet access) they may know what they want it for now, but not what they want it for in the future. Of course you could buy something now and buy something else when you need it, but it could be more expensive that way.
It used to be some people would say they only use their computer for word processing and maybe a game like solitaire.
Then it became, use it for email, and web browsing. -internet access
Then add a digital still camera, you want to store and view photos with your computer. -larger hard drive, maybe a better monitor
Then add downloaded or streaming digital music and video. – high speed internet access, large hard drive for downloaded content, good video card, good sound system
I personally started off using computers for games, word processing and drawing (and printing).
These days I use them for my digital photos and video from my cameras. Keeping track of bank accounts, keeping accounting books, and taxes. Download music from iTunes and Amazon. Watching video by others-streaming, downloaded, DVD, or TV tuner. I use Word processing more for email and web sites rather than printing. I don’t play much for games on my computer anymore, but use my friends Nintendo Wii once in a while. I’m trying to print less and less and have been converting paper, film, and tapes to digital form stored on hard drive and/or DVD. I didn’t think I’d join social networking web sites or send text messages on the phone, that changed.
My parents as recently as a couple of years ago weren’t planning on watching video on a computer, now they do.
If you see a feature or something new, you may not use it now, but that will likely change.

Categories
computer tips Going Green

Print these days?

Do you really need to buy a printer these days?
Many times we don’t send letters in the mail anymore, so there isn’t much need to print for that.
Email doesn’t need to be printed, since most of us have large storage for email. Just back things up if they are important.
Why print a web page? – book mark it or save it.
Do you really need to print a report, or can you email it or post it on a web page?
Photos we mostly keep and share on computers and digital photo frames. For those that we really want printed, we can have printed professionally, most the time cheaper than printing ourselves. I’ve used online photo stores such as dotPhoto.com, and Shutterfly to print and they have turned out very well. Targets photo prints usually turn out well. Walmarts prints are not as good.
You can hand write small notes and addresses on envelopes if only sending a few.
When you do need something printed you could pay to have it printed at a library or at a print shop.
I bought one from Samsung.
Color Laser printers are still a little bit bigger (sometimes really big) and more expensive to buy and maintain.
Inkjet printers are usually cheap to buy, but the ink cartridges are expensive since they don’t last long usually.
In my personal situation, I do have a laser printer. I usually only print a few times a month so I leave my printer turned off most of the time. Toner doesn’t dry up, since it is already dry.

Categories
My Site updates video

Common Loons in Minnesota Video


Minnesota’s State Bird the Common Loon. This video starts off with Lake Superior near Baptism River & Tettegouche State Park. Later goes to Long Island Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern MN. The video ends at the Mississippi River in Brainerd MN.

Categories
My Site updates video

Aitkin Fish House Parade


I added a video of the Aitkin Fish house Parade Nov 27 2009
Photos from the fish house parade

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