Nate's Computer ServicesWe 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:
The chemicals and germs may be another reason not to eat by the computer if possible.
Here are some general power saving tips (many that you may already know)
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
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.
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.
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.
What I would recommend if you do need to print, would most likely be a small black and white laser printer. 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.
Many Times I have to go out to a site and do an emergency backup. Usually with those backups I have to use an external hard drive because that is all it will fit on quickly with many gigabytes of data from photos, music and sometimes video. (other options might be a burnable dvd, flash drive, or second computer.)
I sometimes use the Ubuntu live cd (on all their installation cds) for being able to have an operating system when windows is not working properly.
I recommend performing regular backups, preferably automatic.
What I use for my own regular backups is Time Machine on my Macintosh with an external hard drive and MozyHome unlimited.
I’ve purchased the Mozy unlimited two year subscription for 103.95. They also have monthly plans for 4.95. And 2gb free option.
My experience with Time Machine has been fairly well, every time I needed to restore it has worked. The only downside is it takes a lot of resources when starting up, and one of my programs (NeatReceipts) that has a library did crash a couple times while time machine was running. The crash corrupted that library once, but I was able to restore it with time machine.
There are several other online backups available, including Carbonite, and Dropbox. Just testing out drop box that lets you share and sync folder(s) on multiple computers.
Update July 23 2010: Soon I will be offering online and local backup solutions to my home and small business customers.
In an effort to go paperless I decided I needed to scan in my receipts for my business.
To do this I searched the web to find information about it. I found that the IRS accepts organized scanned or photocopied receipts. I also found Neat Receipts a scanner and a program (Neat Works) for organizing receipts, business cards, and documents. It is available for Windows and Macintosh. I bought the Macintosh version from a seller on eBay.
I am in a long process of scanning years worth of receipts and documents in an effort to free up space in my apartment. I remove any staples. I scan them in. If I don’t need the original paper copy I shred it. The shredded paper is then either recycled or reused.
The program uses optical character recognition (OCR) and recognizes certain items from reciepts, business cards, and documents. It finds dates, total amount, sales tax, company. Many times I do need to edit the information to make sure it is correct. Of course if the paper is in good condition it works better. It makes a pdf copy and puts it into an organizable, searchable library. I am also able to import PDFs and Send PDF files out in an email.
I have had the program crash on me or hang up, mostly when time machine is running.
Overall I like the program, and eventually hope to have a lot less papers.
(Windows)
Slow computers are often caused by too many programs or processes running. These programs can be spyware or bloatware.
Bloatware can be removed using the uninstall feature in Windows Control Panel.
Spyware once in a while can be removed in the uninstall, but many times needs to be removed with an antispyware program.
Sometimes programs need to be removed in safe mode.
Running disk defragmenter can also speed things up sometimes, but these days this usually isn’t the problem.
An antivirus may slow down a computer, however it is a must for Windows. Choose an antivirus that does not have high system requirements and make sure your computer meets those requirements. Only have one antivirus on your computer. You may have to tweak the preferences on the antivirus.
Many times the computer is so slow it is best to use the recovery discs/partition/os disc to wipe everything out and start fresh – make sure you back up your important data files first if possible.
Many times on the hardware side, more memory can help speed things up (using any os). There can be other hardware slowing things down, but this is the most common.
