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Castellini on Computers Free Weekly
Email Newsletter
May 14, 2008
Hear
(and see) our show LIVE
Every Thursday night at 9:30 PM MST
or
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any of our shows.
Spelling and
punctuation guaranteed to be at least 78 percent accurate
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In this week's
issue. . .
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*** Tip of the Week
*** Geek Speek of the Week - (Simple definition of common computer
terms)
*** Computer News...and comment
*** Last week's Poll results
*** Adam's Comments - Stuff from the digital world that is rolling
around in Adam's head.
*** Email of the week
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Rick
spent the week researching and purchasing new audio equipment for the
show. We probably won't have the new system up and running for this
week's show so you will want to tune in for our last episode of crappy
audio.
Consider it another special edition episode of Castellini on Computers.
You can listen to - or download - any and all of our previous shows here. |
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Email your
questions to us and we will answer them live on the air or on
our daily website updates!
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Custom
Computer Help from Rick and Adam
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We have been posting a new how-to video
every week since November 2006 and the feedback has been tremendous. Now YOU
have the opportunity to get your own customized video tutorial about a
topic that you are having trouble with or just want to learn.
To learn more, visit: www.HelpMeRick.com/videohelp
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Tip of the Week
Successful eBay Buying - Video Tip
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eBay
has been around for more than 10 years. However, many computer users
still find eBay either dangerous or hard to figure out. In this week's
tip, I set forth some simple steps to help make your eBay experience, a
good experience.
In the video, I demonstrate my four steps to finding a reputable eBay buyer:
1. Never consider an auction that has exorbitant shipping costs
2. Study the eBay sellers profile. Positive feedback
percentage (I recommend only 98% and higher), total number of
feedbacks, and read actual member feedbacks
3. Carefully read the auction description and study the item photos.
4. If you have any questions or would like more information, ask the seller BEFORE bidding.
I also point out, in the video, that none of these rules work unless we
all leave honest feedback after the completion of any auction you
complete...good or bad. I didn't mention in the video that you should
always know your product and not get caught up in the excitement of
auction bidding and over-bid your position.
Take a look at the video below...it will save you a lot of grief when
buying on eBay, and probably make you a more frequent eBay buyer!
Click this link and watch the video. |
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Geek
Speek |
Computer
users everywhere love spreadsheets. Creating lists of addresses, class
attendance, and financial calculations makes us feel like we are using
our computers for their native purpose.
However, spreadsheets are often misused. creating spreadsheets for
information that may need to be sorted later can lead to big problems.
We will use a teacher as an example. By using a spreadsheet program
such as Microsoft Excel to keep track of grades she can easily fill out
the names, assignments and grades of each student.
At the end of the year the teacher may decide to sort all of her
students grades from A-F placing the higher achievers at the top.
If she sorts the list incorrectly, she may sort the grades from A-F but leave
the student's names in alphabetical order. Thus, each student would
receive the wrong grade.
This is a time where a database would have been better. Databases are
like spreadsheets that keep each row together as a single entry.
Sorting (or querying) for information in a database allows the user to
find the exact information they need in the correct order and place.
Using a database, this same teacher could not only sort by grade but
sort for multiple factors at once such as 15-year-old, male, B students
with brown hair.
If you would like to give databases a try, the more common ones are
Microsoft Access, Microsoft Works Database, Zoho Creator (free at
zoho.com) and OpenOffice Database (free at OpenOffice.org). |
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DATABASE vs. SPREADSHEET
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Computer
News...and comment
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UK acts to remove Office 2007 from classrooms
Microsoft Office 2007 is barely Microsoft Office at all.
Microsoft went to great measures to scrap the comforting interface and
file formats that we have all grown so used to for the past 13 years
and replaced them with something foreign and difficult to navigate.
Many businesses have banned the use of Office 2007 products as
it prevents others from being able to view and edit their files if the
recipient does not have Office 2007 or proper viewer.
This week the UK submitted a formal complaint against
Microsoft in an attempt to ban the product from classrooms until
Microsoft finds an easier way to play well with others using standard
formats.
Google blurs faces in street view
Google Earth is an amazing piece of free software. The program allows
users to look at the globe from space and then zoom in to any point and
see the buildings, cars and people.
Recently Google added street view to Google Earth. Now you can zoom
right into a street level view of many streets and landmarks.
The feature is made possible by Google allowing users to submit photos
and work on the project. This of course has raised some concerns over
privacy as many streets are crowded and faces are easily recognized.
This week Google announced that they are implementing new software that
will recognize and blur faces to address privacy concerns.
iPhone supply dwindles as world waits for 3G in June
Apple has for all intensive purposes
announced that a new iPhone will be released in June or soon
thereafter. The new model will likely offer few surprises but, for once,
surprises aren't what iPhone users are after.
The current iPhone uses an older Internet technology making it almost useless
for the purposes it is advertised for such as YouTube, Google Maps and
downloading music from iTunes store unless you happen to be connected to a standard wireless connection (wi-fi).
3G Internet connectivity should give users 256k or better connection
speeds thus opening up a whole new world for mobile web users.
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Poll
Results
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What size of monitor do you use?
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Next
week's poll:
Do you consult the Internet for medical information?
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15" CRT
7%
15" LCD
10%
17" CRT
15%
17" LCD
17%
19" CRT
5%
19" LCD
18%
> 20" CRT
1%
> 20" LCD
17% |
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Adam's Comments
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Tomorrow I am taking the day off to celebrate my colonoscopy. That makes today, Colonoscopy-eve. And I have a newsletter to do.
Only those who have had a colonoscopy, or have a friend or loved one who
has, knows that the colonoscopy-eve is a much bigger party than the day
itself.
I am actually kind of glad that I have the newsletter to do this
evening. I got home from working today and got all setup for the big
event. I setup my laptop and picked out my favorite DVDs. I even setup
my computer on LogMeIn so that I can remote control my desk computer
from my laptop.
What did we ever do before wireless Internet? I have spent the past
hour and a half researching news stories, compiling the newsletter and
even watching some YouTube now and then.
I have written before about how much easier it is to travel with young
children than it used to be, but I can't imagine colonoscopy-eve
festivities without a laptop and wireless Internet.
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Email of the week
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Hello
Rick,
Is it ok to run spybot spywareblaster and avast all at the same time?
Ruben
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Hi Ruben,
It's
absolutely OK to run the two together...and recommended! Spyware
Blaster is an anti-spyware program and Avast is an antivirus program.
They will work in tandem to keep you safe.
For my money, I
think the best way to stay safe is to use AVG (now a combined antivirus
and antispwyare product) together with Mozilla Firefox. This
combination works great for me and hundreds of my clients and millions
of our listeners/web visitors. Thanks for writing. Have a good day.
Rick
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Castellini
on Computers & HelpMeRick.com ©2008
Rick Castellini and Adam Cochran
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