Tech – for Everyone

Tech Tips and Tricks & Advice – written in plain English.

Sunday Beauty 62

Another pretty picture for your Sunday.

(Sometimes.. “simple” is best [as in The KISS Principle].)

Click on image to see more by this artist

“blues skies ireland” by IvanWalsh.com, courtesy of Flickr Commons.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Today’s quote: “When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course.” ~ Peter Drucker

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

>> 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. <<

October 16, 2011 Posted by | Digital Images | , , , , | 6 Comments

Winners, Top Downloads, and Friday Fun

Here it is, Friday again. My, how time flies, doesn’t it?

Today I will do something a wee bit different. Yes, there is a video… it is “a very basic introduction”, and I hope you will enjoy (and maybe learn something you didn’t know). Also, a second video you downloaders and lovers of freebies will wanna see.

This week I again had the privilege and pleasure of handing out $500 worth of software licenses – ten licenses for a 5-star data backup program. Even better news, it seems every Tech – for Everyone reader already has a backup solution in place, protecting their important documents and images from disappearing forever in some digital disaster. Yay!
(This is quite different then my experience as a technician.. where, in all my years, I have only encountered 4 clients who had a recent backup of their files…)

Well.. every reader except for the 8 who entered the drawing, I guess…

Winners announced: If you entered my Backup4all License Giveaway Drawing, look for an email with the subject Backup4all License Winner in your Inbox (and/or, maybe, check your Junk folder).

… it is probable that this utter lack of interest and participation spells the end of license giveaways. (Though I have never received so many requests for reviews from vendors as I have this week.. Weird, ironic, dichotomy.) And, I’m glad to give up the job. These product testing+review/contests are time consuming work, so, yay for me!

Congratulations to the winners, and my sincere thanks to the folks at Softland for making the Giveaway possible!


Today’s quotable quote: “The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Top 5 back to school downloads

Vodpod videos no longer available.

The weekend is almost here.. yay!

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

>> 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. <<

August 19, 2011 Posted by | computers, free software, software, tech | , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Using The Computer At Your Job

• The computer at your place of employment is not yours, it is the company’s. You are using it as a guest would.

• Everything you do it on it can be (and probably is being) watched (aka “monitored”).

This week (Monday and Tuesday) I have already had to explain this fact to three callers to my Tech Support biz.

They wanted to make changes, and install programs, and were puzzled by the fact the machines were not letting them, or failing to show menus, that their machines at home would let them make.

One wanted to install Hulu’s desktop app.

At work.

I was polite to these people, and explained to them that business machines are often ‘locked down’ by the IT department: that I could not/would not help them. And though it pained me (biting one’s tongue can hurt) I did not say anything other than they needed to ask their boss or IT department. (Which I knew they were not going to do: that’s why they had called me.)

• Every word you type can be read – even the log in to your webmail

Please think about that.

Every chat. Every email. Everything.

If you have checked your personal email while at work, your employers now know how to read your mail. Facebook. Whatever. I suggest that when you get home, you change your passwords, and stop doing personal stuff, and/or “recreational” stuff, when you are at work, getting paid to do the company’s business activities (aka “work”).

If they bother to look, yes, they can tell exactly (to the millisecond) how many minutes a week you play solitaire and Angry Birds. That might be a factor in their thinking when it’s time for the next round of layoffs. (I know it would be if I were boss and had to cut employees..)

Once again, I can’t believe I have to write this stuff…

Hulu? At work?

Today’s “Don’t miss out“: on the chance to enter my latest software license giveaway drawing!

*** Win A Valuable Prize! ***

The folks at Softland have generously donated ten licenses for Backup4all Professional to me, to award to my readers.

“Backup4all is an award-winning data backup software for Windows. This backup utility was designed to protect your valuable data from partial or total loss by automating backup tasks, password protecting and compressing it to save storage space. This backup application is feature rich and offers an intuitive interface making all features easily accessible for both beginners and professionals.“

To enter the drawing, please see: Backup4all License Giveaway Drawing

Today’s quote: “You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” ~ P.T. Barnum

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

>> 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. <<

August 17, 2011 Posted by | advice, computers | , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Summer Is Over?

Thanks to an alert reader, I was made aware of something.

That “something” had snuck up on me.. and caught me unawares. And unprepared.
Flat-footed, as they say. Asleep at the wheel.

Unbeknown to me, the National Football League had held a secret cabal, and agreed to start playing this year’s games. In fact, I think 10 games were played and, I understand, more are scheduled.. (several tonight, for example.)

I was functioning under the thought that football did not start until the very end of summer. The waning days, when the first hints of a coming frost can be scented – the leaves on the trees are oranges and yellows.

So.. I can only conclude that summer is over. Fall is here.
Rats. (Summer is my fave.)

Needless to say, I was startled by this revelation. And when I am startled and caught flat-footed, I resort to research and info-gathering. I send out spies. My research told me that it is true – “pre-season” has started – and that my team had played.

“My team” being (for those readers who do not know, or remember) the very best team in all of football; the best there ever was in football; and the team destined to go undefeated for as long as there is football — the S.F. 49ers.

My team scored one field goal – 3 points.

Against the New Orleans Saints. Who manged 3 TD’s and a field goal – 24 points.

Sigh.
(Good thing these early games do not “count”!)

For those who want to learn more, I sent my spies to ESPN’s sportscenter NFL, here.

Today’s quotable quote: “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have a great weekend everybody! It is a beautiful day here, and I hope it is there where you are too.

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

>> 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. <<

August 13, 2011 Posted by | blogging | , , , , , | Leave a comment