How not to run a slow computer!

When you remember the time you had this brand new computer that worked with lightening speed and now it seems to take forever to boot up and move along - its time to take stock of what really happened. You now have a bloated computer thats just plain irritating to work with.

Heres how to keep your computer lean and mean. Avoid installing software just to try it out. Innumerable installs and uninstalls clog your machine - eventually. If you must try out software then do so on another machine to decide if its a keeper. Check what programs are on your startup menu. Some may not be necessary but before you uncheck make sure. You can do without skype and messenger starting up each time you boot but leave system files alone.

If you are at your wits end with a computer that just crawls along - transfer all your docs to an external hard drive and reinstall your operating system. I have friends who do this as a matter of course every six months. It works! Voila! Clipping speeds once more!

iPad flying off shelves in England

There were the familiar scenes once more. People in line for hours just to buy the iPad in England. Now its nice to have a new gadget to tinker around, but what is it with standing in line for so long just to get it! Five stars to Apple for great marketing. This is how we get convinced that life is not worth living unless we get the latest whatyoumaycallit. No matter that six months down the road the same people will be in a queue to buy something else after falling for the hype. I am still at a loss to see what the iPad does that a laptop or netbook doesnt do. Play movies, watch videos, listen to music - been there done that. But, as my teenage friend tells me - the iPad is cool! Well, with that I cant argue!!

Thanks to Shoba Keshwani of Food Mazaa

Many thanks to Shoba for giving me an award for my blog! As for Shoba's blog, Food Mazaa, http://foodmazaa.blogspot.com/, it is so well written and great fun to try her recipes. Just follow her instructions exactly and you can cook up a dream dish. Thanks Shoba for all the love and support!

The iPad is here!

After all the hype the iPad is here, and the name is already getting a lot of flak as many are reminded of commercials for products women use!

Name notwithstanding, heres the good and bad. The good. Its sleek, light and love the idea of an on screen touch keyboard. You can also dock to a standard keyboard (purchased separately). Now the doubtful and bad? Wonder what happens if you drop the thing. The glass is gonna shatter at once. Dont believe me? Drop your iphone and find out! Also no usb, no flash, no camera, no multitasking. Meaning you cant run an application and the web browser at the same time.

One more device for people to fiddle with in public to convince those around they are really busy and important and have loads of friends. Yawn!

Smartphones! Whats the difference?

So why should I trade in my cell phone for a smart phone? Well, if all you need is to make calls and receive calls then theres absolutely no problem in carrying around the old cell phone which looked like a brick and weighed about the same. But if you want to move on, then might as well go all the way and get a smartphone.

They are more than cell phones and work like a computer linked to the internet. They provide instant access to the internet, you can work on documents and sync with your desktop or laptop, and besides playing music you can store and play a whole movie on a smartphone. They are open to third party applications where you can download whatever interests you and is of use. They will connect by Wi Fi and 3G for faster browsing speeds. All in all smartphones are here to stay and will only get better with time.

A netbook just for travel!

It has limited uses but it sure is a travellers delight. I got the Acer Aspire One 751h after swearing a netbook is no use. Now its a real handy andy! So light! And instant wireless connections anywhere, without any effort on your part. 

So whats not so great - well theres no DVD drive and I spent another hundred dollars on an external one. Why? To make backup DVDs of the system. Now if you have been using laptops for as long as I have you will know that as sure as the sun rises and sets each day, one day that laptop/netbook will die and you will have to reinstall the OS. And you cant do it if you dont have the backups and none come with this netbook. A fact I found out after the purchase. Theres no other way to do the backup except to an external DVD drive and if you dont have one and nobody else has one either to lend you, then you are stuck with buying it. 

Other than this issue I am quite happy with this netbook though it does seem a little too plasticky and not at all robust. So handle with TLC. 

Windows 7

There have been a surprising number of complaints about glitches in Windows 7 after upgrading. The system hangs and goes nowhere. (Had a car like that once!) I would suggest waiting a bit. Remember the old saying - never be the first to try anything or the last to quit! 

Facebookies!

It slowly creeps up on you. First you join Facebook because so many friends ask you to. You have no idea what its about and wonder why it sparks so much interest. Then suddenly you are in and having a great time finding that friend from kindergarten you lost touch with, or looking at the pictures of a relative's birthday party halfway across the world. You have officially become a Facebookie! 

As you get comfortable with the website some patterns emerge. Theres the poster who tells you about every single moment of his life excluding his bowel movement, the one who actually works in real estate and sneaks in a sales pitch from time to time, and the most dedicated poster of all - the cause runner. The cause runner has a new one every other day and throws himself heart and soul behind it and tries to get you to join as well. All part of the Facebook community. How to maintain your sense of fun through it all? Enjoy!

Which browser?

So many people have asked me this question I think I should reveal all! I have a PC and five browsers installed and ready to go - IE8, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari for windows. And the winner is - Safari. Thats what I use all day and everyday. Why? Its fast and its a fortress against viruses. As for antivirus? I have three of the best and latest antivirus, antispyware and antimalware - all running together. And best of all - I have nothing of importance stored on the computer I use for the Internet. How boring for ye who hack! 

No more trips to the bank. Scan in your cheques.

Few people are aware of the fact that a cheque can even be written on a piece of paper, provided you write in all the information required to debit your account and use the correct wording. However, through years of conditioning, almost all of us dont risk it and turn to the bank issued cheque book when we need to write a cheque - which in itself is very rare these days, what with the massive use of credit and debit cards. 

However, when you do receive a check, be it written from a traditional cheque book or a page from Aunt Janes recipe notebook, one thing we all have to do to cash it or deposit it is make a trip to the bank. Now that may not be necessary. Banks are planning on letting customers scan in their cheques from wherever they are and use internet online banking to deposit them. They are still working out all the "how to prevent fraud" details before putting out the service on a mass scale. 

My pets name is yqsz3r221xcfrdmq

Be it a fun website or your email address or the bank, now you have the unavoidable security question from time to time. But ever since a famous celeb's Twitter account was broken into because she had written in the real name of her pet for her security question, people are frantically searching around for something different to defeat the hackers. 

The above should do nicely I think. Even the most dedicated hacker wont be able to get around it. The problem is how am I ever going to remember it?

Laptop Losses!

I had to read it again just to make sure I understood.  In the US, where they keep accurate statistics, around 1200 laptops go missing at Los Angeles International Airport each week. And if you add it all up then some 624,000 laptops go missing or are lost at airports in the US each year. Thats a staggering figure. Not all are stolen. Many are forgotten while going through security checks. If you have an identity tag pasted on your laptop then you will be paged to come get it - provided you even remember you left it behind. There are so many hassled and spaced out travellers who dont even register that the laptop is gone or their name is be being paged.  

The other factor is just plain and simple theft. While you wait for your flight and read that newspaper somebody has walked off with your laptop bag. But help is on the way. There are already laptop recovery software available, and though it might set you back about a hundred dollars, you can track your laptop's whereabouts with it. It works. It transmits information to a central tracking unit or to yourself and you can take it from there. Some even click a picture of the thief and send it to you the next time he/she connects to the internet. If that isnt cool I dont know what is!

Bye Bye AC adaptors

Tired of carry about the AC adapter brick for your laptop? And forgetting it in hotel rooms? Soon it will be a thing of the past. The adapter part will be incorporated in the laptop (with no significant addition in the weight) and all you will need is a normal extension cord. Fujitsu is leading the way with the tech to make this happen. Cant wait to reduce the number of accessories in my travel bag. 

His and Her chargers

A tangle of chargers in your travel bag might be a thing of the past. Starting next year all the major cell phone companies will have one standardized charger for their phones. However, if you want to charge all mobiles in your possession in a hurry then no point in carrying just the one charger and, say, three mobiles. You will still end up carrying that tangle of chargers to get the job done.  What we really need is the five minute charger which packs a punch quickly. Anybody listening?

Apples new iPhone 3G S

What does S stand for? Speed says Apple.

So what were you thinking of?

Twittering perils!

Follow and be followed! Thats the essence of Twitter. But beware! Twitter has become the new haunt of cybercriminals. Clicks on links can take you to the badlands where malware comes to roost on your computer, and either sends all your banking details to some criminal halfway across the world or turns your computer into a zombie for a bot net. So watch those links, and think before you link! See, I am getting poetical with a turn for rhymes!

Texting and you

The average teen sends eighty text messages a day. Thumbs fly over the mini keyboard. Just watch! We presume, the said average teen also receives an equal number of messages. How about those of us who wonder what there is to text about other than "Running late, see you 5pm" or something mundane. Well, you have to be a teen to understand.

Texting is especially suited for the thin fingered. If you suffer from fat finger syndrome (meaning you hit two keys at once and do so most of the time) then texting, sadly, is not for you!

Unlocked cell phones

For those who unlock their iphones on the quiet - remember when its update time it wont be possible. Who cares? Ask my friend David who tried to update and got everything wiped!!!

Which Browser?

If you are the kind of person who flits from browser to browser then you probably have all the major ones on your computer, like I do. I have IE, Opera, Safari, Firefox and have just tried out Chrome. My personal favorite is Safari. The latest version has a speed thats truly awesome and Safari, for me at any rate, seems to pick up less viruses. The others are also used by me from time to time. Chrome was disappointing! Still difficult to find my way around. But its good for speed as promised. 

The fifty thousand dollar cell bill

We have all heard the horror stories. Somebody spends hours downloading videos on their cell and then collapses when the bill comes along! Even if you are not a dedicated downloader nevertheless watch out for those international roaming charges. They can really add up. Before you travel make sure you know exactly how much a minute you are going to pay when you call home. You might be better off getting a local SIM card.