Homemade Lizard Cages

And Some Friday Fun

I have had a very.. um, interesting week. And I am glad it is TGIF day.

* This past week blog Comment spammers have been very active.. Which has amused a few of us.

.. and the tech press has been very active proclaiming the Desktop personal computer obsolete and dead.

Also this week, the US Air Force declared six of its “cyber tools” as “weapons”. (Software that packs a real punch, I guess..) If you’re interested, click here.

… But, truth is, the sum total of the week’s news just made me (even more) tired (take control of an airplane with a smartphone app?!?!?!). But there was one item I saw that those of you who are actually trying to use your touchscreen tablets to do some constructive, productive, things with might want to see (as, you know how pointless trying to be productive on a tablet is) CloudOn brings Microsoft Office® to your Tablet Computer and Phone for FREE

“Appears in today’s world of computing we are definitely moving away from the desktop form of computing to the more mobile form of computing, such as tablets and smartphones.” Read more..

I’m in a mind to get this week over with.. it is Friday, so here is your Fun Video (to help pass a few cubicle minutes).

And here’s a cheery thought: you aren’t stuck in a traffic gridlock right now.

And for those of you who want a good tech read, this may be the best “review” of Windows 8 I’ve read in a while.. Microsoft’s Windows 8 approach: Bold, arrogant, or both?

“Microsoft has done many bold things in Windows 8. No one in their right mind would accuse this release of being timid or overly cautious. But plenty of perfectly sane critics have attacked Microsoft for being arrogant, stubborn, and dismissive of legitimate complaints. They might be right.” Read more

Today’s quote: “For disappearing acts, it’s hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.” ~ Doug Larson

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

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

omg! Yahoo! | Stealthwear | Friday Fun

Let’s get things rolling, and help the weekend arrive..
(AKA “A few Items of Interest”)

Beardless Ben Makes First Post-Oscars Appearance

First up, Silk (the web browser in my Kindle Fire) recommended to me a website, which, I had never heard of. It’s named omg! Yahoo!. Naturally, I click on anything “Recommended for Paul”, so I discovered that omg! features the latest Celebrity Gossip and photos (Did you know that Affleck has shaved his beard? And that Aaahnahld S. has a new gal pal?) and more. (As in.. plenty of ads..)

OMG. Please pass me a barf bag! But if your tastes and “likes” include Access Hollywood and/or ET, be sure to check out the great pics the stalker parasites paparazzi snapped of Famous People today.

Do you .. Yahoo?

(Must be a ‘glitch’ in their algorithm.. I have never looked at “Hollywood news”, Celebrity, or Gossip items… and I don’t Yahoo!)

* Very interesting (to me) .. How To Avoid The Predator Drone. Well.. that’s what I might have named the article.. But check out: DIY Anonymity on the Internet

“A recent fashion show in London presented Stealth Wear, meant to explore “the potential for fashion to challenge authoritarian surveillance.” Featuring an “anti-drone hoodie,” to thwart thermal imaging, with an “off pocket” to mask mobile phone location signals, these fashion accessories may exemplify a larger trend — the drive to find personal means to maintain anonymity in response to ever more powerful and ubiquitous methods used to track our activities, both licit and illicit.” Read more..

* Oracle investigating after two more Java 7 zero-day flaws found

“Polish security researchers have discovered yet more zero-day vulnerabilities in Java, the beleaguered Web plug-in, that led to the successful intrusion of Facebook, Apple and Microsoft in recent weeks.” Read more..

* A free version of Microsoft Office? (Legal???) Are Microsoft’s free Office Web Apps good enough for you?

“When you think of Microsoft Office, you probably think of retail software that commands a premium price. Surprise! The latest iteration of the Office Web Apps are free and surprisingly powerful. How do they stack up against Google’s offerings?” Read more..

[ah.. the wonders of the cloud..]

* Reader submitted ‘podcast’.. Why internet addiction is a controversial diagnosis

“Isaac Vaisberg is a self-described recovering Internet addict. He’s getting treatment through a pioneering new program in Washington State. And this spring, Internet Use Disorder will be officially recognized as an area that warrants further study. But not everyone thinks this is progress.” Listen

[IUD.. I thought that was something different..]

Okay. Enuff dat. Here’s our Friday Fun Video:

well… omg!

Update: What can you (Dear Reader) tell me about Fandango? Various young people have told me that it is THE website and smartphone app for anyone considering going to the movies… (Use the “Leave a Comment” link, below.)

Today’s quote: “The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” ~ Tony Robbins

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.

More on Hotmail phase-out (and other things too)

Items of Interest

* As I wrote about recently (see, The End Of Hotmail) there is/are change(s) coming to Microsoft products. For those of you who have a Microsoft “Live ID”, or Hotmail account, the following article is a ‘must read’: Microsoft’s Hotmail phase-out: What’s a user to do?

“Microsoft is moving all of its Hotmail users to Outlook.com by this summer. Here’s what the hundreds of millions still using Hotmail need to know about the transition.” Read more..

[oh, and btw.. Outlook.com outage leaves users locked out of accounts

“Numerous users of the online email service Outlook.com were locked out of their accounts on Monday after a service outage.” Read more..]

Further, Microsoft Office is changing/has changed, too: Office 2013 licensing changes increase IT angst

“It has been about a month since Microsoft released Office 2013 and Office 365 under a new licensing regime. Unfortunately, this new scheme has raised a few eyebrows among users and IT professionals alike. Let’s see if we can figure out what it means.” Read more

* I don’t normally point out good deals, but.. this one is kind of amazing.. a WD 4 TB, USB 3.0 external harddrive unit (w/automatic backup) for $169 (plus free shipping) .. see it here.

* On the tablet front.. Ubuntu’s Touch OS preview released for Nexus tablets and phones

“Ubuntu Touch is here, but users have been warned not to run it on their primary device, as it has number of kinks still to be worked out.” Read more..

and Hands-on with the HP Slate 7

“How can a tablet that feels so good be so … not good

What do you do if you’ve long since past being a laughingstock in the mobile business? You failed at Windows Mobile. You bought Palm and put webOS out to pasture. And now, if you’re HP, your first real foray into Android is a tablet that’s nice from afar, but far from nice. Such is the HP Slate 7.” Read more..

* For those waiting on more of my Working With Apple series, sorry for the gap. More will be more coming; but the only thing I really have to say right now is, I’m finding more bugz and glitches than I would have suspected… but it’s been a mildly boring “shift” otherwise.

* I really cannot believe as many people think “clumping” cat litter is no bargain as don’t …

* Mondays are busy days, so.. that’s all I’ve time for today. Have a good one everybody!

Today’s quote: “If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.” ~ Joseph Addison

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.

Tip: Change Office’s AutoRecover Location

Make Document AutoRecovery More Functional

The AutoRecover feature in Microsoft Office can truly be a lifesaver when you are working on a document and the program (or system) crashes. However, by default, the AutoRecover files are always saved to a difficult – to – find folder. By telling Office to Save those files to a location of your choosing, you will know right where to find them should the worst happen, and you need them.
(Also, it’s a good idea to ‘tweak’ the frequency it makes its ‘snapshots’ of your work in progress.)

The default locations are:

• Vista/Win 7 = c:\Users\*username*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\
• Windows XP = c:\Documents and Settings\*username*\Application Data\Microsoft\

Here’s the How To:

The first thing we need to do is create (or choose) a location. I create a “recovery” folder inside my “Documents” folder. (I recommend creating the location, to avoid cluttering up existing places with autosaves.)

• Click the Start button, and then Documents
• In a blank (white) area of the Documents window, right – click, and choose New and then Folder
• A new folder will appear, and the cursor will be blinking in the name rectangle. Change it to (aka “name it”) OfficeRecovery (or something similar)

Now we need to set Office’s AutoRecovery behavior:

1) Open any Office program — Word, Excel, PowerPoint…

2) Click on File, and then go down the list and click Options.

3) In the left-hand column, click on Save.

4) In the new window that opens:

● Change the “Save AutoRecover information every ____ minutes” from the default 10 to something a little more helpful. I prefer 3 minutes, but one or two minutes (if you’re a fast typer) may be a good choice too.

● Change the “AutoRecover file location:” to point to the folder we just created.

1. Click the Browse button
2. In the left column, click Documents, and then in the right pane, locate and double-click on your recovery folder
3. Click OK

● Click OK

That’s it. You’re done. Now, in the event of a power failure, computer crash, or whatnot, you actually may be able to easily recover your lost work. But please note: AutoRecover or AutoSave does not replace the Save command. You should use the Save command to save your document at regular intervals and when you finish working on it.

Today’s quote: “Sometimes the best way to learn from your mistakes is to carry them with you.”

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

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