Tech

I have a love-hate relationship with my computer.

In fact, often I love to hate my computer!

It will do things I know even the great Mr. Gates didn’t intend, and it usually does them at the least convenient time (like when I’m on a deadline or in a hurry).

Rather than the usual whining and doing nothing about it, I’ve decided to share a couple of things that previously annoyed the heck out of me and the solutions I found to help you avoid these same problems.

*Disappearing Internet Explorer Status Bar*

The status bar at the bottom of the Internet Explorer web browser serves many purposes.

It allows you to hold your mouse over a link to see where the link will take you.

It enables you to see a page’s loading progress as you wait for it to download.

Most importantly, the status bar allows you to see the little gold “lock” symbol that lets you know you’ve made a connection to a secure server (very important to know before you input credit card data).

For some inexplicable reason, from time to time, this status bar disappears from my browser.

Just about everyone would I agree, I think, that wires on headphones are just about the most annoying wires associated with any electronic device. When you listen to music you don’t want to have to stay in anyone one place, and you don’t want to have to worry about cords tripping you are pulling your headphones down. The answer to this problem is wireless headphones, many of which allow you to listen to music over 100 feet away. They, like all wireless devices, give you a sense of freedom, an ability to move, work, and play wherever you want. You will find here a list of some of the most popular wireless headphone devices, with important information about each.

RCA WHR120 Infrared Wireless Stereo Headphones

Manufacturers Description: Experience the freedom that RCA Infrared Wireless Headphones can provide. You don’t have to be chained to your stereo when you put on a pair of headphones. With the infrared, line-of-sight transmission, you have 23 feet to roam as you please. Also, the base doubles as a convenient charger and stand. And the lightweight design and adjustable band make for a comfortable, snug fit. Enjoy life with RCA technology.

Key Features:

Local Businesses have Been Slow to Capitalize on Search Engine Notice

Yellow Page directory usage has been falling for years. But most merchants who’ve always relied on their directory listing for new business have not taken the necessary steps to promote themselves online as well.

Local Search by search engines makes the Internet a vital component of more and more retail sales. Buyers can find convenient sources of products or services (the time-honored role of the Yellow Pages) with queries that include a geographic element.

They narrow their search by adding a specific city, zip code, region (Pike’s Peak), county, etc. Only nearby businesses appear in the results. Suddenly, even the smallest business (without a website) has a chance of being easily found online.

The Public’s Buying Habits Have Changed

Over 25% of all search-engine queries are for Local Search results; and that percentage is growing quickly. Last year, both Google and Yahoo committed to expanding the value of Local Search results they deliver. People want them and are driving the trend. Small businesses that don’t get aboard risk being left behind (and unfound).

As the Web grows more crowded and just plain “noisy” with information bombarding us from every angle, most people welcome any tool, trick or shortcut to help them wade through the mountains of data to find what they want.

Since your web browser represents your main window to the Internet, it makes sense for any tool which enables you to find what you need and get around faster online should sit right where you need it most.

Introducing Web browser “toolbars,” free little programs that work with Internet Explorer and Netscape to put you several steps closer to the information you need right now.

~ Google Toolbar ~
The free toolbar from search giant Google offers the best search features of any toolbar we evaluated.

Not only does it allow you to search the web, but also enables you to search within a website to find specific information.

The Google toolbar’s main features include “Page Rank,” which gives an indication of a website’s overall value based on your search criteria and other factors, along with a “backwards links” function which allows you to see which sites link to the website currently loaded in your browser.

When it comes to computer speaker systems, you have a lot of choice. However, there are simply some brands that stand way out in terms of sound quality and dependability, and one of those brands is certainly Logitech. Logitech computer speakers are some of the best on the market, and provide a great deal of clean, powerful sound for a very reasonable price. Logitech offers a variety of computer speaker systems, for relatively inexpensive 2.1 2-speaker systems to the power 5.1 and 6.1 gaming computer systems with multiple surround-sound speakers. Whatever you are looking for in computer speakers, it is likely that Logitech has it.

Logitech x-230 2.1 2-Piece Dual Drive Computer Speakers

Manufacturers Description: Crank up the audio on your PC with this 2.1-channel computer speaker system and enjoy clean, crisp, consistent sound from your games, music, and more. The Logitech X-230’s high-tech subwoofer adjusts itself dynamically to deliver distortion-free bass, while the two wall-mountable satellite speakers use Logitech’s patented FDD2 technology to eliminate the uneven sound response created by conventional dual-driver designs. The result: a clear, uniform sound field without the “hot spots” and inconsistency of other dual-driver satellites.

Features:

Because with VOIP you can make calls from anywhere you have access to a broadband connection, users can take their IP phones or ATA’s with them on trips and still have access to what is essentially their home phone.

Some people use a softphone to access their VOIP service. A softphone is a specially developed software application that loads the VOIP service onto your desktop computer or laptop. Some even have an interface on the screen that looks like a traditional phone. These softphone applications allow you to place VOIP calls from your laptop; anywhere in the world you have access to a broadband connection.

Most traditional phone companies charge you for extra features that are added to your account. With VOIP service providers these usually come as standard. Features such as:

1. Caller ID

2. Call Waiting

3. Call Transfer

4. Repeat Dialling

5. Return Call

6. Three-Way Dialling

Some VOIP service providers also offer advanced call filtering features. These additional features allow you to decide how calls to a specific number are handled by using caller ID information. They allow you to:

1. Forward the call to a particular number

Video technology has increased significantly over the past years, and is continuing to grow at an incredible rate. Digital Video Disc’s aka DVD’s are the most likely the last big jump in consumer video technology that everyone is familiar with. To keep up with the ever advancing world of electronics a new format of video storage will be released soon called Blu-ray.

Blu-Ray is a next generation optical disc that will blow the socks off of what we all know today: DVD. Conventional DVD’s use a red laser that have long wave lengths, which limits the storage capacity on a disc. Blu-Ray uses a blue laser which has much shorter wave lengths. Because the wave lengths on the Blu-Ray are much smaller it can focus on a spot with much greater precision, allowing for data to be packed much more tightly than the red laser DVD’s.

There are certain things people just shouldn’t do with cell phones! Like talking in the grocery store line while trying to pay for your groceries, talking in church (like nobody will notice!), talking while driving and eating and talking to the people in the car or talking in the middle of class!

Hey - I love my cell phone as much as anybody else, but people are starting to go overboard! You can’t have a conversation with a person before their cell phone rings and then they get text messages and then they have to surf the web and then their voice mail goes off because the phone was too busy to receive any actual calls. Come on! Enough is enough.

And, in that spirit, following is an official lists of Cell Phone Do’s and Don’t’s (please don’t take this list personally - but if you do, then you know that problem applies to you!):

Don’t:

1. Talk on your cell phone at church

2. Talk on your cell phone in class (you’re disturbing us, too!)

3. Talk about your mother when there are mothers around you.

4. Talk about your kids when there are kids around you.

For many people the computer industry is a seeming unsolvable jungle filled with mysterious words. Here is a guide to help you understand the personal computer and to give you the information needed to make a shopping decision you can live with so you can enjoy your PC for years to come.

A few years ago the average cheaper personal computer cost was about $1500. - $2000. And this price did not necessarily include the power to edit videos, pictures, or play games. For that you would have had to spend more on upgrades. Now things such as video editing are standard on the newest personal computers. PC’s have become less expensive than ever before and they come with more capabilities than ever.

The PC you buy will depend upon what it will be used for. Will you be surfing the Internet and email, working in spreadsheets, playing video games? Who is using the PC and what are there interests? More than likely you will have to accommodate a combination of these or maybe even all of them.

Back in 1999 when we beta tested the first wireless mobile office with satellite broadband Internet we had something that no one lese had. Today you can buy these systems for $5,500 fully installed on any RV. We probably had $10,000 in the first system and we had mobile satellite number 34. Today there are thousands of systems out there. Continuing the beta testing story of the first broadband satellite internet system.

It appears the Canadian based companies for obvious reasons are gaining fast while the US companies were hampered by the FCC in the last few years, forcing communications to move out of the country, yet the customer bases will be here and many of these companies will have 50K subscribers in no time, and the US mighty powerhouses will end up with all the technology and hardware through acquisitions or set up new systems in the coming years with higher capabilities. But do not count out the GM Hughes Team, Craig McCaw (he is a lifer when it comes to passion of the industry) and of course Lockheed and Microsoft. Teledesic, and the other recent alliances and projects prove that the world will be more than united and on the same page it will be doing so in real time. Expect the human rights violations of yesterday to disappear in all nations, religion to be put in check and knowledge to be the universal truth. I would like to thank; John Kettlewell, Jon Haugan, Steven Genuser, Stacy, Allen, Steve Ford WB8IMY, Michael Tavern, Frank Morring, Kim Komando and a few other writers, researchers and industry insiders for all the data in our research. We have scoured over 20 magazines for the last year for bits and pieces of the puzzle and personally visited all kinds of people around the US for this input.