Most Asked Question About My Smartphone – Typing

The question I am most frequently asked – when folks learn I have an Android smart phone – is “how is the typing?” (They ask that when tablets/iPads get mentioned, too.)

click to see how this image was made in photoshop (tutorial)

Sometimes, this question comes from Blackberry owners, or others whose phones have some kind of mini-keyboard (buttons). These folks are used to “texting” by “thumb-typing”, and some of them are .. um, leery of the “on screen” keyboard. With a “touchscreen” it is true, you do not get the tactile feedback that you do with buttons.

Other times, the person asking has managed to avoid the whole “smart phone” scene, but now that they have seen all the ads on TV for the new 4G world of Internet on your phone, and Androids and iPhones, now have a keener interest.

When I am asked, I tell them that I don’t “type” on my Android — I either talk to it (voice recognition) or “Swype” on it. People want to know if voice recognition, and touch screen typing work properly, or if it is buggy. In my experience with my HTC, running Android 2.2, I would have to say, yes, neither voice recognition nor Swype get it right all the time – 100% – no errors. But I am amazed at how infrequently I have to correct it. And I suspect each feature will only get better as they mature.

Instead of trying to explain what “swype-ing” is, I suggest watching this brief video. (It explains it better than I can.)

unrelated (fun): Been to Google yet today? Very cool mod to the homepage today.. to see it, click here.

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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eBooks and eReaders – There is more than Kindle, you know

When one thinks of “e-books”, one probably thinks of the Kindle (from Amazon). One may also know about Google’s “Books“. Both have received a good amount of press. But there are other options, and today I am going to share a few. Let’s start with the basics:

What is an “e-book”? An electronic book is a text and image-based publication in digital form produced on, published by, and readable on computers or other digital devices.

An e-book can be purchased, downloaded, and used immediately, whereas when one buys (or borrows) a book, one must go to a bookstore or public library during limited hours, or wait for a delivery. The production of e-books does not consume paper and ink.

Where do I get an e-book? eBooks are available online at ‘bookstores’ called “marketplaces”; the two “biggies” being mentioned above. Most big name bookstores’ and publishing houses’ websites offer electronic versions of their titles. And individuals can market their own writings (in ebook format [called “e-publishing”]) on their own websites. (For example, I have been told I should bundle my writings here into an ebook, and sell it…)

Do I need an e-Reader? No. While a dedicated e-Reader can be had for $200 or less, and has certain advantages, it is not required – smart phones, tablets, netbooks/laptops and your home PC can all ‘read’ e-books (but may require an ‘app’, or ‘reader program’).
The trouble with e-readers is they try to lock you into their marketplaces…

Are eBooks expensive? I am not a big ebook guy (yet, anyway) but I have found many titles available free (which I like), and the prices I have looked at seem to me higher than bookstore paperback and lower than bookstore hardcover – in a word, “reasonable”.

Okay, I said I would tell you about some lesser known options.

In e-Readers, the Kindle has many competitors (to get an idea, click here): two worth mentioning are:
* Barnes & Noble’s Nook
* Sony’s eReader
[note: both of those are ebook “marketplaces” too.]

Lesser-known e-reader apps (and marketplaces):
* Microsoft Reader: Enjoy a personal, portable library

Microsoft Reader is a free, downloadable software application that allows you to read eBooks on Windows-based devices you may already own. Take advantage of a growing marketplace of over 60,000 eBook titles while enjoying the convenience and features of Microsoft Reader.

* Adobe Digital Editions

Adobe® Digital Editions software offers an engaging way to view and manage eBooks and other digital publications. Use it to download and purchase digital content, which can be read both online and offline. Transfer copy-protected eBooks from your personal computer to other computers or devices. Organize your eBooks into a custom library and annotate pages

* Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the place where you can download over 33,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable device.

We carry high quality ebooks: Our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers and digitized by us with the help of thousands of volunteers.

All our ebooks can be freely downloaded: Choose between ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats.

* Your local public library may have ebooks available too – ours does (SF Peninsula).

Ooops. Ran out of time.. have a great day, folks!

Today’s free link: Can you spot a scam? (screenshots)

“A theft of names and email addresses like the recent one from marketing firm Epsilon doesn’t sound that bad but that information is valuable for scammers to use in further attacks, notably in phishing scams. If an attacker knows your name, the companies you deal with and your email, then it can craft some convincing emails that have a much better chance of fooling you.”

Bonus: say, now… maybe here’s an idea….

Bonus bonus: I’m going international!

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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About the Recovery (D:) Drive

A Reader Asks a Very Good Question About the “Recovery Partition”..

Q: Paul,
When I open up the My Computer icon on my desktop to check my hard drive, the recovery disk is usually close to 2/3’s full and it is in GB. Is this a drive I want to do anything with? I have plenty of drive space on my C drive but this takes 3-4GB of space.
What is the recovery drive for and should I try to recover the the disk space it uses?

A: When you click on “Computer” (or, “My Computer” in XP) an explorer window will open showing the storage devices (aka “drives”) attached to your computer (storage “memory”). These storage areas will be assigned a “drive letter”, and usually start with the area which contains the Windows operating system and is responsible for “booting” your computer — labeled drive “C:”
Why doesn’t it start with “A:“? Well, back in the day, it did. Long ago, computers came with A and B drives – which were 5.25” ‘floppy’ drives (which contained the operating system. Windows didn’t exist yet). When the first “hard” drive came along, it had to go next in line.. thus C:\ (c: equated to “hard disk” [with a “k”]). Eventually, operating systems were designed to run from “hard” disks, and – eventually – “floppies” went the way of the T-rex. (But “hard disk” still equates with “c””)

I digress, but! I need to keep talking about computer history/evolution for just a bit longer. Long ago, computers used to come with CD’s. Either a Windows CD or a Windows CD relabeled by the manufacturer to something like “Dell Recovery Disc”. These were used in the sad case of really bad errors crashing the computer, and tech support told you you had to “reinstall Windows”.
(Sometimes called “disaster recovery”)

At some point in time, some brick-headed, idjit barnacle of a CEO made the absolutely dumbest decision ever made by Man — in the hopes that they could save 3¢ per computer sold. (Can you guess what I would say to this *person* if I met them?) They decided to do away with the Recovery CD and instead put those files on a special section (called a “partition“) of the hard disk — which came to be Drive D:\ (aka “the ‘recovery partition’)… the topic today. Ahem, sorry.

Back to the topic: When you first start up your computer (aka “boot up”) you will see a drab screen that says something to the effect of “Press F11 to recover your computer” (or some F key.. maybe F10, maybe F2..) This function is used in the sad case of really bad errors crashing the computer, and tech support tells you you have to “reinstall Windows”. (Sometimes called “disaster recovery”)

This “recovery process” will wipe (aka “erase”, aka “delete”) your C:\ drive, and copy the “image” stored on D:\ over to there — thus returning your PC to “factory condition”.. complete with crapware, such as Connect to AOL and Polar Penguins, and minus all your installed programs, updates, and … files.

You do have a backup copy of all those.. right?

This disaster of a disaster recovery method was not necessarily the case if you had/have a disc. Which is why the CEO mentioned above is a jackass. And why you want to read, Windows 7 Owners, You Want To Do This…

Answer the question, Paul: Okay okay okay
The drive D: aka “Recovery” is a special, protected area, which contains the files necessary to restore your computer to factory defaults. You cannot modify it. Short version: Pretend it isn’t there, and … hope you never need it.

(If you are eyeballing that ‘open space’ because you have filled up your C:\ drive.. well, no. What you need to do is install additional storage [ aka “upgrade” ] and/or go in and remove stuff from C:\)

* Okay.. maybe not the dumbest…

Today’s reco’d reading: Warning: Surprise spam trojan on Facebook

“Ever received messages from your Facebook friends containing a notice or invitation, such as an invitation to visit a particular site, added with an interesting message, like “Hey watch this, so cool!”? In most cases, the recipient of the message will be happy to follow it, especially if the message was sent by one of your best friends, which you trust. However, did you ever think that it could be sent by an intruder, spam, or even viruses?

Like yesterday, one of my friends received a “surprise” from Facebook, but then soon realized that his computer was now infected with the trojan, as well as making it a “spam machine.””

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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It’s Time We Talked About Netbooks

The word netbook is a portmanteau of the words Internet and notebook.

Netbook users typically rely on online applications and services which do not require powerful hardware on the local computer (aka “cloud computing“), such as Google Docs and Calendar.

These are not speed demon gaming rigs, media servers, or even very small laptops — what they are is lightweight and very portable. And they’re cheap (I don’t mean “flimsy” or “poorly made”). Using one, I was reminded of state-of-the-art… in the year Windows XP came out (2001).

Some (most?) netbooks do not have conventional hard, or optical disc drives. Such netbooks use solid-state storage devices instead, as these require less power and are smaller, faster, and lighter. (On machines with no optical disk drive, application software is typically downloaded from the web or read from a USB device.)

All netbooks on the market today support Wi-Fi wireless networking and many can be used on mobile telephone networks with data capability. Mobile data plans are supplied under contract in the same way as cell phones. Most also include Ethernet and/or modem ports for broadband or dial-up Internet access.

I look at netbooks as filling the gap between smart phones/PDA’s and travelbooks/”mini”-laptops, and the pundits are saying netbooks are our future. Google seems to be betting that line, and it’s new Chrome OS is aimed squarely at this segment (see Netbooks: Google’s ace in PC war with Microsoft).

Recently I have been playing with a borrowed 9″ Acer “Aspire One” ZG5 (its main competitors in the low-cost netbook market are the Asus Eee PC and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9) which has the Intel chip and Windows XP. That combo is what I would buy.

I like the screen size and brightness, and I like the light weight, and I like the keyboard (which I would guesstimate to be 3/4’s of a “regular” keyboard) as I am not skilled at typing with my thumbs on tiny QWERTY arrays with miniscule buttons — I need KEYS. The unit feels solid and sturdy. It is too big to fit in any of my pockets, though.

I think these machines do what most people – even business people – use their mobile devices for.. e-mail, browsing the Internet, and working with documents; and by “ripping” a DVD to the drive, they can also be media players too (see, Quick Tip: Movies on the plane). I think they are worth a look-see, if you haven’t “checked it out” yet.
(They might make a perfect ‘first computer’ for a child, too…)

Purchasing: As I always advise, and due to the smaller key arrangements and touchpads, this is something you definitely want to “test drive” before you buy. Make sure it “feels right” before you buy.

The future of computing? I’m not so sure. What do you think?

Today’s free link: Hacker steals Twitter’s confidential documents

Today’s free download: Free YouTube to MP3 Converter Extract sound from videos on YouTube and convert sound tracks into MP3.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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