Archive for computer group

Week 10: iPod & Music

// March 30th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // computer group

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.  ~Ronald Reagan

Our session this week focused on how we can use our computers to enhance our lives with music.  Right at the start of class, Gary gave us the link to a cute little website to listen to oldies: www.tropicalglen.com – not bad if you’re looking for some nostalgia or a quick song fix.  The only thing you want to be careful with on a site like that is you don’t want to click on the adds… they will take you away from tropicalglen and you can end up at strage places!  With that warning in place, use it at your own risk – that’s the price of free for you.

iPods, iTunes & iThink my head is about to explode!

Apple has dominated the portable music market lateley, and with good reason – their iPods are easy to use, they look really cool and sound great.  They’re also relatively cheap considering all that you get!  One big consideration when you buy one – You can use apple’s genius bar to get help with your product – the appointments are free, and they have a store right in the westfarms mall. (the only drawback being that you can’t buy smoothies there, haha)

iPods

We looked a few varieties of apples in class, here is sort of the breakdown on the bunch:

  • iPod Shuffle – this tiny guy has no screen!  it does hold 4 gigabytes of music however (about 1,000 songs), and speaks the title of the song and artist through your headphones on demand – pretty cool!
  • iPod Nano – this sleek device comes in about 9 colors. It has 8 gig & 16 gig models (2k or 4k songs), plays music, videos and games,  and has a motion sensor – when you want to shuffle your music, just shake it!
  • iPod Classic – the unit yours truly uses (mine is actually a 5th generation video iPod)  These guys have tons of space and tons of battery life – 120 gigabytes allows you to hold like 30,000 songs, and you can get up to 36 hours of audio playback on a single charge.
  • iPod Touch – I dont know how they can even call this an iPod – it has so much more including apps, email, wifi built in, we could even use one to control our projector during worship remotely!  I’ll have to take some of my earlier lessons to heart and make some money off ebay before I can jump on board with one of these… I guess I can’t have all the toys eh?

iTunes

Coming soon!  I’ll get back to the blog and update once I get a little more time.

Week 9: Yuuguu & Craigslist

// March 28th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // computer group

This past week at Computers & You group we had a good turnout – and a good time learning about more cool things to do with our computers.

Yuuguu

I’ve used a number of tools in the past for screen sharing and support, and this is my current favorite. (my previous being crossloop).  Yuuguu has some distinct advantages:

  1. Cross Platform Support: Mac, PC, Linux, whateva… it’s java based and just works.
  2. Automatic Screen Scaling: one bid drawback to crossloop was that the VNC software didn’t easily support this feature.  This means if you have a big screen, it will make it fit inside mine without having to scroll left and right.
  3. Built in Chat: you can text chat during the session, freeing up your phone or skype line for other calls.
  4. No More Numbers: yuuguu accounts are free, and connecting is as simple as inviting a friend using their email.  once they have a connection, you get them in your yuuguu contact list and can connect easily from there – no numbers or passwords needed.
  5. Multicast up to 5 users form one screen – this is the reason we set it up this week – it was actually much easier than setting up the projector.

Craigslist

We spent the last few minutes of class going over craigslist.  Craigslist is basically an online classified ads service that doesn’t charge for basic listings.  The interface is very basic (some would say minimalist) and adding your listings are pretty easy and straightforward.

Finding what you need

Navigating craigslist is probably the most confusing part of the whole process.  The site is actually very interesting in this way: they really don’t care if you don’t get it.

Let me clarify: I went to a public forum about a year ago and Craig Newmark was there (the guy who started craigslist) and during the session, I learned a lot – this guy created the site to “give back” to the world, and he has no personal ambition to commercialize it, grow it, or even run it!  He hired someone else to be CEO and he is content to work in customer service… for his own company.

“Who needs the money? We don’t really care,” Craig Newmark said in an interview at the Picnic ‘06 Cross Media Week conference here. “If you’re living comfortably, what’s the point of having more?” Newmark said.
- Interesting read from this blog

So if you’re frustrated trying to learn how to get started, that’s understandable. Let me try to shed light on it for you.

Craigslist is not one big site that holds all the ads, it’s actually a collection of smaller, local sites that each have a separate database. You have to navigate the the geographic location you’re in, and then you can browse or search for stuff. This is different than ebay, which has a national (or international) audience as it’s default.

So let’s say I’m looking for fishing lures – I would have to click “connecticut”, then “hartford” and THEN I can search for fishing lures. If I don’t find any lures in Hartford, I can go back to “CT” and look in New Haven (CT has 5 geographic separations)

Sell it like you mean it

There are 2 ways to sell on craigslist:

with an account
or
without an account

If you are in a rush, feel free to post without setting up an account.  You will have to keep the e-mail that craigslist sends you; it’s the only way you can change or cancel your listing.

Creating an account is simple and free, and is the best way to manage all your listings in one place, so I highly recommend setting one up if you’re going sell more than one thing through craigslist.

s0028902_sc71Cash Only!  We talked about this in class, and I want to highlight it – there are a lot of bad people wanting to exploit you, so if someone offers to send you a certified check and wants you to ship your item to zimbabwe, resist the temptation!  Also, it dosen’t hurt to pick up a cash marker like this one at Staples.

It’s actually a common thing at craigslist to only take cash.  Don’t think you’re being rude by being a stickler about it.  You should also plan on paying this way also, unless you are bartering goods or services.

And by the way: if you’re uncomfortable about any part of a transaction, don’t be afraid to walk away.  Better safe than sorry, and remember, these are classified ads, not auctions – it’s first come first serve with cash in hand, but the only agreement you’re bound by is the one you make with the seller directly.  There is no follow up, no feedback and nothing craigslist can do (really) about a scammer who takes you for a ride.

We’ll talk about Craigslist a little more in the upcoming class. The best suggesion I can give to anyone is to read anything on the screen.

Week 7: eBay

// March 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // computer group

Welcome back class!  This week we began to cover 2 great websites for buying and selling stuff on the Internet: eBay andcraigslist.  (Ok, so eBay this week and craigslist next to be a little more specific.)

Feedback to the future

One thing that eBay has going for it all these years has been it’s unique feedback rating system.  Basically, when a transaction is made, the buyer and seller are encouraged to behave ethically and promptly to ensure a smooth transaction of goods and funds.  They can then leave “positive” or “negative” feedback about the experience, a short comment and this gets attached to the other’s profile.  The total percentage of positive-to-negative feedback is always displayed by that person’s username, as well as the number of feedback items accumulated thus far.

Save for a few exceptions, this system has been very good for eBay, and is a fairly reliable way to “research” who you are buying an item from and if they will be trustworthy with your transaction.

To sell or not to sell

eBay accounts are free.  They are however in limited supply.  For those of you who have signed up for a new email with yahoo, aol or hotmail – you will know exactly what I’m talking about.  For instance, if I want the username “rockerRyan” I’m going to have to settle for some cryptic form of this name – like rockerRyan2929 – this is because rockerRyan has long since been taken.  (my eBay account is actually adrenaLANrush – from my old lan party of the same name)

Anyways, once you get your free eBay account, you will need to set up a paypal account to pay for your things.  Everything is still good and free – the basic paypal account that is attached to a checking account costs 0 and will continue to cost 0 as long as you only buy from people who use paypal.

This all comes to a halt however, when you start to sell.  eBay requires you to hold a different type of paypal account when accepting payment from auctions.   Once you have a premiere paypal account, you can accept credit cards,  sell on ebay and more – with a small percentage (I think it’s 2.9% + .30) – so if you want to sell, this is a necessary “evil” that we’ve all learned is the cost of doing business on eBay.

Not sure how up-to-date this link is, but found the information about paypal fees interesting.

Do your research

Before you start selling your item, it’s a good idea to get your stuff organized.  This includes:

  • Take your photos (different angles, and try not to hide blemishes – people actually like to see the “real” of certain items)
  • Search for your exact item on ebay. Chances are high that someone is either selling one now, or has sold one in the recent past (make sure you check “completed listings” for the most comprehensive search)
  • Start a document on your computer (or google docs) and copy & paste your competitor’s description just so you have something to go by. (you can COPY by selecting the text, right click + copy. Bring up your word document in another window, and right click + paste.
  • Decide which photos will go up and organize them in a folder.

By having a few of these things out of the way, we’re ready to post our acution!

AUCTION TIME

Step 1: Get your pictures to the web

You can use a free hosting service like picasa (we went over last week) or photobucket.com (melody’s favorite) or a listing helper (like auctiva.com) that does a lot of the leg work for you.

Step 2: Decide where your item is going, and what you want to say about it.

By typing your document in your word processor (Microsoft work or google docs) you have the benefit of spell check and autosave so you don’t have to write everything up all in one sitting.  Remember that copy (right click + copy) and paste (right click + paste) to get everything from your document to eBay’s description box.

Step 3: Link your pictures

This step is a little bit tricky, but a few sites (photobucket & auctiva) make it a lot easier to place images on your page.  Auctivain particular makes for very easy listings – it is free so is worth checking out!
If you want to use photobucket, you’ll have to copy and paste the image codes (HTML) from photobucket into your auction to get the photos to show up.

Step 4: Clearly state the terms of your auction

By stating your auction terms clearly, you will eliminate confusion and have some “rules” you can fall back on to make sure you don’t get suckered. Here are some good suggestions:

  • Will ship only to United States & Canada
  • Paypal only please.
  • Payment is expected within 7 days of auction close, or I will relist.
  • Guaranteed not DOA for 7 days upon receipt. (good for electronics)

You can go a little overboard on this – you want to keep it simple, and not discourage average people by stating too many requirements.

That’s it!  Do this a few times, and you’ll have a new hobby that makes a good bit of cha-ching on the side!

Week 5: Anti-Virus, Malware & Cleaning

// February 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // computer group

Welcome back gang!  Melody and I just retuned home from a week in New Brunswick, Canada to have a great class about all the nasty horrible software out there ready to infect your windows PCs (sorry mac users, you’ll just have to suffer through this on!)

The first point we discussed in class, is that there are some significant ways you can change your computer habits so that you will probably never have to deal with spyware/viruses.  The most significant of which is:

USE A DIFFERENT WEB BROWSER THAN INTERNET EXPLORER (or yahoo’s excuse for a browser)

Ok, so we didn’t talk about the yahoo browser in class, but I had to throw that in there.  The only people who will be using a yahoo browser in the first place will be people who use ATT/Yahoo DSL and installed the disc supplied with their “self install kit” which loads a whole bunch of bloated software on your poor computer, including a useless copy of antivirus (more on this later) the yahoo instant messenger (train wreck!) and the infamous yahoo web browser, which seems to use the same engine as Internet Explorer (which we’ll refer to as IE from this point on).

IE used to be the only game in town a few years back.  Microsoft had “won” the browser war by default (kind of like a hockey game where only one team showed up – they werent necessarily the best team, just the winner ’cause all the other teams were too scared to play) IE was awesome for a while – it was faster than netscape and came already installed on a PCs and was FREE – why bother with anything else?

Fast forward to 2006 – Pop-Ups have become an everyday term, and many of the “holes” IE had in it’s infastructure had begun to be exploited by bad people.  We summed up in class that the best offense is a good defense – so use a different web browser for your everyday surfing, and your chances of ever getting a virus or spyware will significantly be reduced.  A couple great alterantive web browsers are:

1. Mozilla Firefox

2. Google Chrome

Oh, and by the way, one of the best sites to get most of the software we’re using today is FileHippo.com : bookmark it! it just makes sense :)

Oh no!  I have something on my computer that has: (please choose one)

[] Slowed my computer down to a crawl

[] Making more popups than a redneck campsite

[] Been telling all my friends and family to download some crazy file I never sent them.

[] Made my control panel disappear, and all of a sudden I have a new antivirus that finds a TON of viruses!  what the….

Here are my recommendations for getting your computer back in shape quick.  (well, this may take some time, so grab a coffee)

Step 1: Clean your temp files

Even though we went through this step last in class, it’s a good place to start.  The fewer files on your computer to scan, the faster you’ll be happy. Two of the best cleaners out there are ATF-Cleaner and CCleaner. (just make sure you “uncheck” the yahoo toolbar installer when you install CCleaner)

Step 2: Have ONE antivirus program, and keep it updated

In the sea of antivirus programs, there are only a few that work really good.  The rest do work (or at least we hope) but are mostly marketing fluff these days (yes, even the commercial version of Norton).  Keep in mind, you should only have 1 real-time scanner installed on your comptuer at any given time.  Too much of a good thing is bad when it comes to this stuff – your computer can become like a sleepy sloth while your virus scanners duke it out for who is king of the hill.

…so here are my recommendations:

  1. AVG Free Edition: this is an easy favorite.  It’s pretty easy to install, it updates itself, and best of all, it’s free!  It may not be the best program to clean an already-infected computer, but is just fine for everyday protection.
  2. ESET’s NOD32: If you really want to pay for antivirus, this software is worth it.  It has a small footprint (which means your compy will run faster) and is better for older PC’s that don’t have a ton of RAM.
  3. Kapersky: We didn’t discuss this one, but it’s another good choice if you really want to pay for your protection. This is also a good solution if you’r trying to clean an existing infection.

If you have a virus already, use NOD32 or Kapersky to clean it off, and then un-install your free trial and put AVG on there, you should be good to go.

Step 3: Check your malware at the door.

Malware (or “badware” for all your linguists) is software that is bad.  We talked about all the bad stuff in class (spyware, viruses, keyloggers, phishers, etc..) so here’s the links to get it clean:

  1. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: if this link dosen’t work, just go to Download.com and click it off the top 10 list at the bottom of the page. Make sure it’s updated before you scan.  The quick scan is usually good enough for most cleanings.
  2. Adaware & Spybot: these have both been great in their time – the both still work good, but I find they aren’t needed as much thanks to Malwarebyte’s awesome program that is so tiny and quick!
  3. If your computer is REALLY infected (like a process-killer that will keep you from installing any of these great tools) you may have to do some drastic cleaning with programs like “combofix” (google it) or follow some of the great tutorials on “bleepingcomputer.com”

That pretty much wrapped up the suggested downloads for this week – let me know if there are any questions!  Till next time…

Week 4: Google Docs

// February 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // computer group

This great video from Google Docs explains a lot of what we learned in class this week:

Week 2: Skype & Facebook intro

// January 26th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // computer group

This week for our Computers & You class at the Tabernacle, we wrapped up our introduction to Skype.  We talked last week about where to buy a webcam to take advantage of some cheap video-calling you can do when you skype-to-skype call someone.  Amazon has the Microsoft Lifecam VX-3000 on sale with free shipping right now for just over $25 : Check it out here>> . (by comparison, Wal-Mart sells the same item online for $35)

There are more expensive webcams out there of course – like the Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF – an auto-focus Carl Zeiss lens and automatic rotor that follows you around the room makes this $100 cam a geeks dream : (See it at amazon). Alas, for the casual user just starting with skype, a $25 cam is a nice start.

Skype Security

There were  a few real-life examples of why it’s probably not smart to answer Skype calls form strangers. As with any online service, you are connected to the world, and should take appropriate cautions.  One such example Ed gave was when he changed his Skype status to “skype me” he got lots of weird calls.  ”Skype Me” is a feature they’ve had for a while in skype where if you were bored and felt like talking to anyone, you can just leave your status at “skype me” and it places your name in a directory that makes your record look like this:

My status

Displaying your status when you’re online. (btw, if you have skype installed, you can use the above button to call me… cool huh?)

This is good for attracting weirdos, lonely people or scammers – not so good for your friends, so leaving your staus at “online” is good enough.

Speaking of status, we discussed “going invisible” for those times you want to make calls but not necessarily take them.  ”Do Not Disturb” is also a good way to keep people from bugging you when you’re busy.

Facebook

We only briefly discussed Facebook near the end of class – the focus of next weeks group will be completely on the “phenomenon” they call Facebook. If you haven’t done it yet, head over to http://www.facebook.com/ and set yourself up a new account – we’ll be discussing at depth next week.  Facebook is sort of the new e-mail – with groups, public walls, photo and video galleries, it’s a great way to connect with old friends, new friends, families, co-workers… or pretty much anyone else who’s “online”.  Chances are, if you went to a particular school, some of your old classmates are already online.

Tagged Photos

Our first topic to kill on the facebook warpath is Photo tagging.  Once you upload a photo or view a few albums others have created, you’ll start to encounter this feature called “Tagging”. Tagging was created as a way to notify others that you have a photo of them online.  They get a message stating they were tagged in a photo, and a link to view the photo directly for their convenience.  Tagging has also been used to identify people within a photograph.  This purpose works, but is not the initial reason for the feature.  In fact, because of the way tagging works, it makes sense to only tag people in exceptional photos, or if there is an entire album that person is in, just a few good shots from that album is sufficient.  Otherwise, they get a notification for every single time you tag them, and their inbox can get pretty gummed up this way.

If you want to tag a photo for Identification purposes only, use a nickname or something other than their Facebook profile name – this workaround is common and acceptable on FB – and you won’t drive your friends crazy!

It’s also worth mentioning that every photo you are tagged in gets placed in a special album in your profile – if your friends want to view your photos from your profile page, they will see every photo you have been tagged in.

This is great – except when your aunt Gerty posts that picture of you with your mouth full of cake!  Thankfully, there is a cure for this – just go to the photo and “un-tag” yourself in the caption at the bottom.

If anyone has any specific questions about Facebook they want addressed during our group this saturday, feel free to send me a message, post a comment on this blog, or give me a ring on skype.

Week 1: Introduction & Skype

// January 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // computer group

Our first group meeting we discussed a few of the things we’d be learning this session in the Computers & You Group.  A few questions came up about Skype, so we dove right in and got some software installed, and some accounts set up.

Mac Users can download the latest version here.

Windows Users can download the latest version here.

The download and install are pretty straightforward.  You will have to pick a user-name that no one else is using… I typically recommend using your real name, or some variant of it (firstlast, last.first, etc…).  Make sure the e-mail address you use is entered correctly!  Skype doesnt verify the address, so if you loose your password – you’re in trouble!  Finally, make sure you use a good password – if you start to use Skype a lot and take advantage of some of the paid services, you don’t want someone pretending to be you on there… so don’t use a password everyone knows.

Skype Features

Skype is a multi-faceted application that can really change the way you communicate.  Some of the most popular uses include:

1. Free Video Calls: using a web-cam, you can call another skype user for free video calls anywhere in the world.

2. Phone Calls: you can call Skype users for free, and it’s extremely cheap to make local and LD calls to landlines and cell phones. (just $3/mo. to US and Canada, unlimited – $10/mo. International!)

3. Text Chat: less obtrusive than a full phone call, you can send text messages to other skype users in an instant message.  For obvious reasons, this is faster than e-mail, more convenient than texting on your mobile phone.

4. Extra Phone Line: For $30/yr. (special price if you have monthly subscription mentioned above) you can get a REAL phone number for people to call in to your Skype account from any regular phone.  This is a great option for small businesses or companies that want to expand their capabilities on the cheap.

So anyways, enough already… you get the picture.  Skype is a free or extremely cheap way you can use your computer to save money and enhance your communication  with friends and family.

C&Y Online Schedule

// January 24th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // computer group

Welcome everyone from the group – I’ve posted this season’s schedule and a short description of the group here.  Thanks for stopping by!

Computers & You Group

// January 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // computer group

This past week Mel & I  held the first “computers & you” small group at the tabernacle, and the hour flew by!  My primary goal for this first class was to get through the introductions and “formalities”  and find out what everyone was really interested in learning during these 14 weeks or so we’re going to have the group.  We got some great responses about Skype, so we dove headlong into that – most of the class having gotten the software installed, with the rest planning on getting some webcams for next weeks class. (stay tuned for promised suggestions). If anyone missed the class and would like to get a little bit more out of their “online experiences”, feel free to stop by this saturday from 10 – 11 am (laptop suggested but not required) – We’ll be happy to have you!