I think I just might have to save my pennies!

I caught a glimpse of the new Macbook Air. WOW what a fantastic looking little notebook computer. Sure beats the standard, heavy (this Macbook only weighs about 3lbs!!) notebooks that are out there now. I do not own a notebook at this time, but I sure think I just might have to save my pennies and check into the new Macbook Air for sure especially since the price is going to start at only $1799. I just knew for sure when I saw the commercial about it that it would for sure be a $2500 PLUS machine. Ive never had the pleasure of having experience with a Mac but this one has definitely caught my eye and I may need to rethink my computing needs. This thing is barely longer then a ruler, you can tuck it away anywhere. Now you girls with the big purses can tuck it into your purse instead of carrying a separate bag just for your notebook. Will definitely make carry-on luggage for airline travel much lighter on you.

This little jewel comes with some great amenities as well.

• 80GB hard drive (Parallel ATA PATA)
  
• 64GB SSD drive (available on the Tier 2 model for lots more money)
  
• Intel Core 2 Duo chip 1.6GHz, with 1.8GHx available as well
• 2GB of 667MH DDR2 SDRAM
• USB 2.0
• Micro-DVI
• Headphone jack
• 802.11n-based wireless networking support
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Fully recyclable aluminum case *Think Green!*
• Mercury free display
• arsenic free glass

Im sure the price will come down within a year, maybe then I can afford to splurge a little and bring one of these cute, little gadgets home.

Simple tips and tricks

I keep thinking about how much people really dont know about the shortcuts they can use when using their computers such as the very simple copy and paste. So many times I am trying to show someone how to do something and I say now copy and paste and they have no idea what Im talking about. Simple likes like printing as well. How simple and easy is it to hold the CTRL key down and hit the P button at the same time? Im going to address some of those simple shortcuts, tips and tricks in this blog for you. If your relatively new to the world of computers, print this out and keep it next to your keyboard for a quick glance guide until your used to using them.

How To Copy and Paste:

Take your mouse, and place your cursor at the beginning of the text in the box below, then click and hold the left mouse button, while pulling your mouse over the text. This should highlight the text. Now release the left mouse button. (What you want to copy should be highlighted now) Now, with the cursor over the highlighted text, right click the mouse for options, and select ‘copy’. Now over the empty box below, right click your mouse again, and select ‘paste’ and you will have copied and pasted the text.

Cut and paste is the same as above, except you choose ‘cut’, instead of ‘copy’.

Shortcuts:

To Highlight: Press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘A’.
To Copy: Highlight an area, as shown above, then hold ‘Ctrl’ + ‘C’ (For Mac users ‘Apple’ + ‘C’).
To Paste: Click your mouse where you want the text pasted, and then press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘V’ (For Mac users ‘Apple’ + ‘S’.)
To Remove/Move: Press ‘Ctrl’ + ‘X’

Shortcut Keys and Descriptions
Alt + F	File menu options in current program.
Alt + E	Edit options in current program
F1	Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
Ctrl + A	Select all text.
Ctrl + X	Cut selected item.
Shift + Del	Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected item.
Ctrl + Ins	Copy selected item
Ctrl + V	Paste
Shift + Ins	Paste
Home	Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home	Goes to beginning of document.
End	Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End	Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home	Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End	Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl + Left arrow	Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow	Moves one word to the right at a time.

Can your machine run it?

Have you ever purchased a computer based game only to try and load it to no avail? I think everyone has at some point. Either your graphics card is not heavy enough for the load or your system just doesnt cut the mustard for speed. Well now there is actually a website that will take off of your system specs and compare it to the system requirements for a particular game and tell you whether or not a particular part of your system needs upgrading to meet the requirements.

This great site is called System Requirements Lab. The service support everything from Windows 98 up to Vista so everyone should be covered. The best part is that its FREE. You just have to give them permission to download an ActiveC/Java browser component that will do the analyzing of your hardware for you. Very simple and very easy to use. If your planning to buy any computer based games this is a lifesaver, who wants to be disappointed after they have gone out and purchased a game only to not be able to play it once you get it home? Save yourself some headache and heartache!

	Get your complete report in seconds including suggestions for what to upgrade on your computer.
	Only your system’s hardware and system software are evaluated.
	No personally identifiable information is collected.
	Works on Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, 2003, Media Center, Vista.
	Works with Internet Explorer, Firefox & Netscape browsers.
	You will need to give your permission to download a secure ActiveX/Java browser component.
	You can easily uninstall the ActiveX/Java browser component when the analysis is complete.

Geekdom at its finest

OK I was terribly bored and randomly searching for a topic to write about on here but really only came up with some geeky humor so here goes. ;=)

Top geek lists :=)

• There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.
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• 1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
• 
  
• Microsoft: “You’ve got questions. We’ve got dancing paperclips.” (my personal fav)
• 
  
• If at first you don’t succeed; call it version 1.0
• 
  
• Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
• 
  
• I’m not anti-social; I’m just not user friendly
• 
  
• I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code
• 
  
• The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it’s twice as big as it needs to be.
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• A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history – with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.
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• “Roses are #FF0000 Violets are #0000FF All my base Are belong to you” (Valentine’s Day Tshirt idea?)
• 
  
• There’s no place like 127.0.0.1
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• The speed of sound is defined by the distance from door to computer divided by the time interval needed to close the media player and pull up your pants when your mom shouts “OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!”
• 
  
• “They say if you play a Microsoft CD backwards, you hear satanic messages. That’s nothing, because if you play it forwards, it installs Windows.”
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• Never make fun of the geeks, one day they will be your boss.
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• You have just received the Amish Computer Virus. Since the Amish don’t have computers, it is based on the honor system. So please delete all the files from your computer. Thank you for your cooperation.
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• In a world without fences and walls, who needs Gates and Windows?
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• “640K of RAM oughta be enough for anyone”
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• Girls are like internet domain names, the ones I like are already taken. – well, you can stil get one from a strange country.
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• “UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand the simplicity.”

Who has the best deals?

Who has the best deals for all of our high tech machines and gadgets? I subscribe to Tiger Direct’s email newsletter so I get to see tons of great deals there. Who else has great deals on the net? Who has great Software deals? Great computer hardware deals? Where is the absolute best place to find flat panel monitors at inexpensive prices that an be trusted? (I need to really start looking into the monitors so that I can pass my current flat panel on to the kiddo’s PC and can chunk that old heavy flat screen monitor soon to make more room on the homework desk. ) Who has better pricing on Digital Camera memory cards/sticks than WalMart? Anyone?

I actually did about 90% of my shopping for Xmas online this past year. It was really nice not to have to fight the hordes of people everywhere. Rude people at that. I would love to compile a list of great places to shop online for anything high tech. Maybe I will start compiling a list and post it here in the blog and just keep updating it as I run across new places online. Ive found a few things at overstock.com but sometimes their prices arent that great. The only thing they really have going for them is the $2.95 shipping for any item on their site honestly, well that and their occasional FREE shipping events. Anyone willing to share their online shopping hot spots with me?

Ahhh the Holidays are finally over..

Ive been super busy with family and whatnot for the holidays and actually took a little time off as well. I thoroughly enjoyed my mini-vacation and spending time with my oldest son who was here visiting. He goes home today and so it is back to the daily grind of work and life in general. I need to do some brainstorming for ideas to write about on my blog here. Ive covered most of the basics already, but I am sure I could probably rehash and refresh some of those as well.

I probably need to write another review of some software that I have purchased in the last few months and wrote about and let everyone know how they have continued to run and operate on my machine. My speed tests are also getting better and better with this hillbilly wireless internet system I have which makes me very happy. Im paying for 3gig service and there have been many good days where I tested out at over 6gig. WOO HOO! Makes for some great gaming on the system as well.

A couple of the software programs I plan on re-reviewing in the near future are the Bug Doctor maintenance program and the PC Registry Cleaner registry cleaning program. Both products are marketed by a small company by the name of Maximum Software. I purchased the programs so I could test them out and see whether or not I would recommend them to my friends, family member and you, the general public. Im always looking for things that will make life easier for those folks who dont spend their days slaving away over a keyboard and just want to be able to do a little surfing or emailing and enjoy their beastly machines without any hassle or problems. Both of these programs did what they promised initially so I will be taking another look at them to see if I would still recommend them today.

Happy keyboarding!

2008 Top Holiday Gifts

I did some cruising and compiled this from a few different sites. Here are some of the top gift ideas for the 2008 Holiday Season.

MP3 Players are HOT HOT HOT, everyone has one or wants one. Go anywhere music, what more could you need?

GPS systems have hit BIG. You can get them installed in your car or have a handy little hand held on that clips to your belt! Who needs a road atlas anymore?

Cell Phones are a necessity these days and they just keep getting better and better. The new Smart Phones such as the iPhone are big ticket items and very handy to have, especially if you do allot of traveling.

Notebooks have to be the #1 requested item for teenage and college kids these days. I know my son, who will soon be 18, put his request for a new Notebook several months ago.

Digital Cameras! Who owns regular film cameras anymore? Now that you can have a small printer just for your camera and not worry about uploading to a PC anyone can print pictures anytime, anywhere.

Digital Camcorders. Welcome to the world of digital camcorders, no tapes necessary! Definitely a great improvement.

Wii Console game system. This has got to be the biggest ticket item of 2008. Everyone wants one, not everyone can find one. I saw an eBay listing for one in the UK for a really outrageous amount of money. Im not sure I like it that much.

Tis the Season

Its that time of year folks, lots of Holiday shopping going on. I dont know about you all but Im trying my darnedest to get as much shopping done online as I can. I absolutely hate the crowds at the malls and big stores…not to mention that they are almost always sold out of something if your going for one or two things in particular. I love that fact that that I can sit here at my desk, all warm and cozy and shop for everyone on my list and have it delivered right to my door.

Here are a few Holiday gift ideas I have for a few special people on my list….

• Books
• Computer games
• Computer software (learning videos are always great for those folks on your list that might be Computer Illiterate )
• Models for the kiddo to work on during the cold winter months
  
• Personalized Monogrammed Stockings
• Laptop accessories (carrying case, mouse, keyboard, lap board)
• Music downloads
• Im sending my Grandparents a specialty cheese box from local cheese makers here. I know they dont need anything else to dust around!

Whats on your Holiday shopping list this year? I already received one gift early from my hunny, a much loved KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I have wanted one for sooo soooo long. I still cant believe he actually bought it for me AND let me have it early so that I would have it for my Holiday baking! I am absolutely in love with this thing. I have all sorts of baking and kitchen items on my Wish List for this year as well. I love cooking and baking.

Stay warm, stay safe and do as much shopping online as you can! I receive emails from tons of stores and they all have some great Holiday specials going on right now. Discovery Store has a daily email special going on and I receive an email each day with what the special is for that day. They have some really cool gadgets and gifts for the kiddos!

Missing drivers!

How many times have you made changes to your computer only to find out once you restart it that you’ve now got missing drivers and some of your programs wont work correctly?(of course if you have Vista running you can just do a driver rollback I think?) Now you get to hunt all over looking for just the right driver for each program, take the time to download, install it and hope it really is the right driver. There really should be a one stop program to do it all for you.

Another scenario is that you have added new hardware and its working. When your in doubt as to whether or not a driver is installed, right click on the device in the Device Manager to see the Driver information.

How about when you try to hook up that old printer thats been sitting in the closet? Nope, its almost impossible to find drivers for outdated printers. Occasionally you will get lucky and run across the driver needed for your particular printer, but 9 times out of 10 it wont happen. Might as well head to Wal-Mart and pick up a new printer! Now if you have a fairly new printer, and have just misplaced your disk to install the printer’s software you should not have a problem finding the needed drivers for your printer on the manufacturers website. Sometimes you may need to email the manufacturer if you dont see your particular driver on their site, or you can do a search for the needed driver via Google or any other search engine. Sometimes you can skate by and try a similar version of the driver and luck out and have it work. Sometimes.

 

  

 

GOOGLE’S latest gadget! GOOGLE-411

Now you can simply call 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone and locate a business number fast and easy. You can choose to either be connected right away or have a text message sent to your phone with the number and a link to a Google map of the business location. What will Google come up with next? They are just cornering markets every where we turn these days. The best part is that its FREE FREE FREE! No more paying the outrageous fees for directory service from your cell phone provider.