Welcome, May

A few dozen people may be relieved to see a new posting here.

No. I did not die. Nor did I quit and walk away from Tech – for Everyone. I’m still here. And I apologize if I caused any concern by not posting anything for almost an entire week. I’ve never gone that long without posting anything before. In fact, for over 5 years now, I posted some item every single day of the week (with rare exceptions, and occasional re-postings). 2,012 articles, to be exact. (And to quote a certain Hippie band, “what a long, strange trip it’s been..“)

To explain the abscence.. in recent weeks, there have been many things that have given me food for thought, and that seem to underscore my sense that 2013 is going to be a big year for change for me. For example..

1) This past “Black Friday“, I bought a Kindle Fire (basically, an Android tablet). And in all this while I haven’t cared to write a single word about it. Here’s why:

• Like an iPad, it’s basically a toy you buy when you already have every other toy (there’s, like, 20 ‘apps’ for productivity, and the other 200,000 apps are children’s time-waster games).
• I use it essentially as a mini flat-panel TV for watching Netflix, and checking my email and Calendar. If I need to respond to any of those emails with more than two sentences, I go to a device with a keyboard to do so, because composing (typing) on a tablet is a royal PITA.
• If it had a front-facing camera, I might use it for Skyping.. maybe. But I totally agree with this opinion: BlackBerry chief: ‘Tablets dead in 5 years
  

  ‘Thorsten Heins, CEO of BlackBerry, says tablets won’t have much of a purpose in five years. Heins’ comments were widely panned, but maybe he’s not that far off base.” Read more..

  But on the bright side, I’m letting Amazon learn my every online behavior, and personal preference, so they can better compete with Google…

2) I built an iMac and tried using it as my “main computer” for a while. And I did write a little bit about that… But never came back to it because, sheese!, those machines are B-O-R-I-N-G! And I wound up using it much like I do the tablet… although, typing a lengthy email reply is much easier on the iMac.

Simple. Basic. Just works. Pricey.

3) I’ve learned to like Windows 8. But I haven’t written about that either.

Let me explain: Microsoft’s latest operating system has given me lots of work (I’m a tech) as I receive calls asking me to “Get this [expletive deleted] off of here!” almost every day. Though many are taking their new computers back to the store. (Hey, I’m just telling you what I see and hear on the streets. I am not looking at any sales charts.)

4) We’re entering a new era of personal computing — and I don’t like a single thing about it. For example, the computer in your eyeglasses is now here, and I heard Matt Lauer tried on a pair on Good Morning America yesterday. ZD Net’s Great Debate series, at least, had the brains to ask the question: Will Google Glass face adoption challenges due to privacy concerns?

Privacy.

Right. Can you say “Facebook”?

And I’ve been mentioning other areas of concern, such as things like the new phones stealing your credit card info in less than a second, just by getting in close proximity …

… yesterday, someone suggested I should go see the movie Disconnect.. but I feel like I already have.

5) It has been 85-90 degrees in the shade here this past week, and today is supposed to be even warmer. In a word, it feels like summer and it’s gorgeous!!! I just haven’t had the will to come indoors and type up a daily blog article. And so, Folks, I don’t think I will be posting on a daily basis any more. I may, or may not, post when/if I feel like it, or see some particularly interesting or important news item.
The end of an era. (I’m calling it “Semi-Retirement”.)

A reward for reading this far: An alert reader in Italy sent me this very short video clip of a very exciting auction event, where a rare Ming vase sold for a million Euros. (I didn’t think I’d be interested, either.)

I have also been very active upgrading machines, and I’ve found great deals on RAM, SSD’s (and hybrids) etc. on NewEgg’s Daily Deal pages and on Buy.com’s (now “Rakuten”) Featured Deals (for example, I found and bought a D-link N300 wireless router and dongle for $19 [300 Mbps wireless.. yes, there’s faster now, but ] and free shipping. $20!!! For both!
Are you still on Wireless G? You shouldn’t be… not at those kinda prices.

I’ve also been doing a fair amount of data recovery. A tedious and time-consuming activity (and thus, costly) which I wouldn’t have to do if the client had only had a backup of their files. If you click the links above I’m sure you can find a huge external hard drive for less than $100 (remember that flood in Asia that was supposedly going to make HHD’s an extremely rare animal, and drive up the price? Well, guess again) and some come with “One touch backup” software included. There’s no reason not to have one these days….

But, for now, I’m going outside and enjoy this lovely day. LLAP.

Today’s quote: “One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important.” ~ Bertrand Russell

OMG..

I got 74 more like this in the past day… Yippee yahoo.

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Tuesday Tidbits #21

Some items of interest for your consideration. (Also, yesterday’s article has been updated.)

* DropSmack: Using Dropbox to steal files and deliver malware

“Michael P. Kassner interviews a digital forensic scientist who uses Dropbox to compromise targeted networks — something the bad guys probably figured out as well.” Read more..

* WordPress hit by massive botnet: Worse to come, experts warn

“A massive botnet of tens of thousands of machines is attempting to hack in to weak password protected “admin” accounts of the popular blogging platform.” Read more..

[ note: this is of concern to even non-bloggers. ]

Good news? * Oracle to release 128 security patches, hundreds of products affected

“The software technology giant will release today fixes for “hundreds” of its products, including Java, that led to high profile corporate hacking earlier this year.” Read more..

Still true * 7 Reasons Computer Glitches Won’t Go Away (Ever)

“People have been complaining about computer glitches since the punch card days. Honestly, it’s 2010. Why don’t we have simple stuff like drivers and software compatibility fixed yet? Can we blame it all on Bill Gates?” Read more..

[ note: To be “hip” and “trendy” {appeal to a younger set} the author uses a few rather salty words. But, he’s right on target. ]

source: cracked.com

Bah. All the headlines are discouraging.

* Analysts start to sweat Apple’s Q2, outlook

“Apple analysts have quickly stopped yapping about $1 trillion market caps and $1,000 stock prices and now sweat iPhone volumes and the outlook for the June quarter.” Read more..

* California case another three-part tragedy of rape, cyber bullying and suicide

“Three boys accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old California girl who took her own life after pictures of the attack were posted online are due in court this week, as authorities ramp up their investigation into the latest case involving rape and cyber bullying.” Read more..

I used to think that they needed to tear down the entire Internet and rebuild it from the ground up — this time with security in mind. But now I’m starting to think they can (should?) just skip the rebuilding part… But, there’s kewel things like foursquare, so.. (see, The Future of Tech – “Intuitive” Phones [ scroll down a bit.. ]) maybe I’m wrong about that latter part.

More on the future of Tech: 10 things about Google Glass: Could this be Google’s iPad?

“Here are 10 things to know about the Google Glass program for developers, consumers, businesses and everyone interested in the search giant’s next big thing.” Read more..

Today’s quote: “Living in memories is an empty gesture.” ~ Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.