My MMM

One thing that I have really missed sometimes in this truly mobile world is that ability to print.  When you are out and about with you shiny new smart phone/tablet and you need to print something at home or else where what can you do.  Sure I guess that you could find a desk top or laptop and then print from there, but wouldn’t it just be easier to do it from your mobile device with out the need for all the wires.

Once again Google has come to our rescue.  Has a new service called “Google Cloud Print“, why did companies stop coming up with cool names for their products.  Its a nifty little service that will turn a boring old printer into sweet little network/cloud printer.  All you need to do this is to have chrome installed on a computer running the Chrome Browser, actually a really nice browser that is super fast.  If you are interested in how to set this just watch this short video done by Antuan Goodwin over at CNet.

Last night in our class we talked about different ways of backing up our photos.  We talked about using a flash drive and some of the advantages and dis advantages of using them.  We also talked about using a portable hard drive and some of the advantages that they had.  So I thought that I would write up a little recap of that discussion and cover one more that we didn’t really get into and that was online backup services.

First we talked about using a flash drive.  Flash drives are great.  They are very portable, can with stand many hardships, like going though the washing machine, and they are relatively in expensive.  Flash drives come in a variety of  sizes, most of them are ideal for transporting files between locations.  Here are just a few of the ones that you can find at Amazon.com. I use a Lexar Firefly and I carry with me all the time. Its a 16 GB that fits nicely on a key ring. This week (Feb. 11th to 17th) at Fry’s they are selling a 4 GB for $8, an 8 GB for $10 (after a $3 rebate), 16 GB for $18 (after a $7 rebate), and a 32GB for $45.  Staples, Wal-Mart, and others all carry these flash drives too at various prices.  So be sure to check around for the best price out there.

If you want to be able to backup your whole computer then your best option is going to be a portable hard drive.  These can range from $50 to $100, but they have a much larger capacity.  Right now the best deals seem to be in the 500 GB to 1 TB (1000 GB) range.  Many of them come with software to make the backup and restoration process as painless as possible.  Also in this weeks Fry’s ad they have a 500 GB portable hard drive for $50.  Its the same as this one here at Amazon. It is $10 more at Amazon, but it does come with free shipping.  Fry’s is also selling a 1 TB (1000 GB) portable hard drive for $90.  Again Amazon has the same drive, but this time for the same price and free shipping.

The third option, is to use an online backup solution.  One of the nice things about these solutions is the fact that if your computer has crashed or you are physically unable to get to your computer for any reason, all of your files are still available to you.  One of my favorites that I use and love is Dropbox.com.  Dropbox has one feature that many of the others don’t, and that it is able to keep files in sync across multiple computers, and that it keeps a version copies, and deleted files for you to retrieve if needs be.  I use it on my laptops, and my computer at work.  So if I work on a document on one computer it will appear on all of them.  You can also retrieve all of your documents form the web anytime that you want.  The only problem is that only your first 2 GB of space is free.  After that they have different pricing plans depending on the amount of space that you need.  But to get an idea of how it works go ahead and sign up.  There are other services like Carbonite, Mozy, andmany others.  PC Mag has a good round up of what is available and a break down in their features, and how much each costs.

From now until the  end of the year SoftMaker Software is giving way their office suite for free.  The office suite is 100% compatible with Microsoft Office and Open Office, and they claim a few features that are even better either one, guess we’ll have to wait an see on that.  Now I haven’t used or tested this office suite yet, but I wanted to post it for everyone just the same because they are donating .10 euro for every download that takes place to betterplace.org.  So go ahead and download it even if you never use it, and help support a good cause.  Who knows you might like it and save your self a little money too.

SoftMaker Office

I plan on installing this and testing it.  I will post back with a review later on.

For the last few months I have been teaching a class at the Wheatland Senior Center. It has been a wonderful experience, to share what little I know about computers and to see how people can catch the technology bug, and how something that many of us have come to take for granted, can open so many opportunities for others.  Often I am asked what is a good price for this item, or where someone can find another item. Often right at that moment I may not be able to tell them exactly where to get the item or how much something costs. It always seems that in the next couple of days I run across the item on sale.

That lead me to think that I would be able to post it here and that way it might help others too.  Mostly I will focus on the local retailers, and some of the best online deals that I find.  So if there is something that you would like me to keep an eye for something let me know and I will be happy to answer your questions for and see what I can find.

To start it off here is a deal that is offered by TigerDirect.com, one of the better online retail stores, on a keyboard and mouse combo.  Last Year for my birthday I got the Wave combo and absolutely love it, and this one is the Pro edition. The MSRP is $129.99 and Tiger has it right now for $49.99.  That’s one heck of a savings.   The mouse is very comfortablem and the the keyboard is one of the few that I can honestly say that I looked forward to typing on.  Hmmmm…. infact I think that I migh thave to bring it in to work and use it there, now that we are an all laptop household.

If you are interested in the this keyboard and mouse combo just follow this link –> CLICK ME!!!!

That is an amazing rate.  A full 50% of men will get cancer in there lives.  Those are not odds that I like.  As a man with one brother that like saying its either him or me.  How do you choose?  How can you choose.  What is even worse is that the fact that 1 in 3 men will get prostate cancer.  That would mean that out of 6 men 2 will get prostate cancer 1 will have some other cancer.  Again not odds that I like.  So what do we do?  Well for starters we need to make more people aware of it.  That is why I have joined Movember.  Its an organization that is trying to raise awareness of these facts.  They are working towards makeing November Prostate cancer awareness month.

Much like October has become breast cancer awareness month, and women’s health issues in general, and everything is pink.  The great folks at Movember are asking for one month that every man grow a moustache.  That’s it just shave a little less.  I’ll tell you, it really works.  I normally have a gotee, but on November 1st it all came off.  and from that day on I have been growing a moustache.  In the last 10 days, I can’t tell you how many people I have had the opportunity to talk about men’s risk of cancer, and prostate cancer.  It really is great to see, how people have taken news.  I am hoping that next year we can make it an even bigger event.  If you would like to help, you can sign up here: Movember.com, or even better if you would like to donate: Movember Donations.

Wish I could grow that in a month

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be many interesting posts. I have been planning on setting up a site where I can post some of the many things that I often find my self musing, and mumbling about mentally. So here goes nothing, and here is hoping for many more great post to come.