Car trouble and how technology could help

So I took another long break between posts. This time around, major car trouble is to blame as I am putting all my spare time into a fight with an automobile giant.

To give you a bit of a background, here is what happened;

I own a mid size car which is recently out of warranty and which has less than 100 k km on the odometer. I have been maintaining this vehicle as indicated in the manufacturer's guides and until a few weeks ago, I had no trouble with my car. Other than changing parts that succumb to wear and tear such as break pads and the battery, not a complaint. That is until after a routine oil change, my check engine light lit up. On the day that I intended to get the issue checked out, the engine would not run.

So I called the garage that performed the oil change. The mechanic was nice enough to come to the place where the car was stuck to do a quick check on the warning light. He first checked the oil level and it was normal. Also there was no oil stains on my driveway after I brought the car home after the oil change first took place. My oil warning light never lit up since I bought the car in question.

At this point, other than mentioning that this car was bought in large part due to the fact that its manufacturer has a reputation for producing mostly reliable and durable cars.

You can see that I am not disclosing any details on this car at least for now, as I am still waiting on the conclusion of this incident.

So at this point, assuming that I did not bore you with the preamble, you may be wondering what a broken engine has in common with a technology blog. And your question is legitimate. If you take some time to familiarize yourself with modern automotive diagnosis, you will soon find that the two fields are quite related. You may also come to think that the automobile industry does not use technology to the best interest of the consumer nor the industry itself. Why? Read on to find out more.

Once the car got towed to the dealership for a second diagnosis, I asked the director of the service department this;

Can my car's computer indicate precisely what happened and when the breakdown began by using time stamps associated with the diagnosis codes?

To my surprise, the answer was " no".

So the conclusion is that in a car which costs over 35 thousand dollars when new, the electronic and computer system does not store data other than precise and predetermined codes which are triggered by the failure of certain components or systems.

Given the fact that a basic computer can be built for a few hundred dollars, I am surprised that one is not a standard part of any modern vehicle. The benefits of recording certain data such as speed, distance, date, time, just to name a few would be potentially helpful not only to the vehicle's owner but also the manufacturer and designated authorities in the event of a mechanical failure or accident.

Even though I am not sure if any car on the road today is equipped with such a device, given the relatively low cost and potentially huge benefits, I think it should be standard equipment. Just like assisted steering and electronic fuel injection.

In my particular situation, the presence of such a computer would have saved the car manufacturer at least a thousand dollars. How so? In order to determine what happened to my car's engine and ultimately decide on what or who is responsible for the damage,  they are asking the dealership to dismantle my engine and take pictures and scans of certain components. If a computer was recording data, they would be able to see in a short time that the car was driven within specifications and all maintenance was done as warranted for.

So as I wait for the manufacturer to decide what happens next and most importantly who pays for the major repair, I can only think about how in certain situations data records can be used to benefit everyone. Not to compare different scenarios, but airplanes are equipped with black boxes for a specific reason and have been for quite some time.

I understand that a plane and a car do not have the same value. I fully comprehend that a failing plane has a potential tragic impact that goes beyond a car accident. Which is why I am suggesting that cars be equipped with a simple computer and not a black box.

Enticing offer from Microsoft

So I took another long break from the blog. Since I am merely an amateur blogger, I don’t feel guilty for not writing anything in a few weeks. However a lot has happened in this time span and I have a few things to share with you, the readers. So what do I write about after such a long haitus? A great offer from a vendor of course!

A few weeks ago I wrote about the different offerings of Microsoft in regards to the line of Microsoft Office products. I have also in the past praised Google’s free alternative to the traditional office suite. However, sometimes a basic solution is missing certain features that you use on occasion but not often enough to notice until you really need them.

Such is the case with editing word documents and writing content for publication. A client of mine who is writing documentation for publishing has solicited my help with certain issues. I was required to section a document into various formats and this requires Microsoft Word as opening the original with any other application resulted in formatting discrepencies. So I had to get myself MS Office and fast. My first step was to install a free trial of Microsoft Office 2013 which was good for 30 days to see if all of the features were there. Once I determined that the tools I needed were there, I had to choose my course of action once the 30 day trial expired. Logically, I was debating between Office 365 and Office 2013.

Microsoft made the decision very easy for me given the promotion found in the Microsoft Store; for a paltry 99 dollars, I would be getting; Office 365 for one pc and one tablet, 1TB of cloud storage on one drive for one year. And a 7 inch HP Tablet running windows 8.1! Oh, and they also threw in a 25 dollar gift card to use to buy apps in the Microsoft Store! So, either I got a free tablet or MS Office 365 free of charge depending on how one looks at it! Given the fact that I needed the software, the free tablet was a sweet offer.

I will review both the tablet and the Office 365 Personal in separate reviews. But for now, I suggest that you check out the Microsoft Store. So far I got two solid deals from them. Given the fact that it’s microsoft we are talking about, I’ll take it!

Complete Backup Strategy

In the past few days I wrote about protecting your data and offered up some solutions for both the smartphone/tablet and computer. Given the fact that most people own at least a computer and one if not two portable devices, as a conclusion, I wanted to offer a cross platform solution that will ensure that all of your data will be safe, unless of a natural disaster that is.

This solution consists of a three stage backup solution which will do the following;

Backup the content of your portable devices to the cloud and computer.

Backup your computer to an external data storage.

Backup some of the files on your computer to the cloud.

This will ensure that your most important content is available to you from any device that has access to the internet all the while backing up the entirety of your computer to an external source so you can easily recover from a system crash.

Step one: Get a DropBox account here.

Step two: Install DropBox on your computer and portable device(s).

Step three: Configure DropBox to automatically archive pictures taken by your camera.

Step four: Buy an external hard drive that has at least 2TB of capacity.

Step five: Set up backup of your computer using Windows Backup (on a PC) or Time Machine (on a MAC).

By following the five steps above, you will have in place a backup strategy that will allow you to ensure that your most important files are backed up to at least two locations. How is that? By installing DropBox on your PC, you will have access to your pictures and videos from your portable devices on your computer and they will also be on the cloud. By backing up your computer to the external drive, your DropBox folder will also be included in the backup.

In the next few days I will explain in detail how to properly configure windows backup and time machine.

Backup a computer

So I talked about backing up a smart phone yesterday. But how about pc’s and macs? These also need to backed up regularly.That is is you care about your data and your computer's configuration. So how do we go about this? There are several options. However, all options except one require a common tool. An external storage drive. I recommend that you buy at least a 2 terabyte hard drive that connects by USB.

Once you have your usb drive ready, then we can go forward;

Option 1; Let the operating system manage your backup

Both Windows and Apple offer backup solutions embedded into the operating system. Windows Users will find Windows Backup in Control Panel. It is easy to set up. I will write in depth and step by step how to set up Windows Backup in another article. Apple offers Time Machine in OS X which also backs up your data and settings. This will also be the subject of a future article. Using Windows Backup and Time Machine is the easiest way of backing up your data and settings.

Option 2; Manual Backup

This option is good to backup your data BUT IT WILL NOT BACKUP YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM AND SETTINGS. This is useful to selectively copy files such as pictures, videos and documents. In essence it is to copy your files and folders to an external source. The disadvantage is that this is a manual and not automated process which can become time consuming. And it requires discipline to do it systematically.

Option 3; Third Party Application

This option may be good for you if you need to backup your entire hard drive and do a mirror copy of it. My favorite option is Acronis True Image. This application is available for Windows and Apple computers. The software allows you to take a mirror of your hard drive and then use the mirror as a recovery source in case of disaster or breakdown.

Option 4; Online solutions

This is good for backing up files and such but you cannot backup an entire operating system since you need a functional os to actually get online. An advantage of using a cloud solution is that integrating files from multiple devices becomes easy as you can backup several devices onto one cloud account.

Bottom line is, regardless of which method or combination of backup solutions you choose, backing up your data is essential.

Protecting your Data and Files

I never repeat this enough; BACKING UP YOUR DATA IS ESSENTIAL. In this day and age where records and all kinds of content is digital, keeping a backup of your most important data is essential. And with several low cost options available, THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO BACKUP YOUR STUFF. I am writing about this as the aftermath of an event that happened last week. A family member came to me with a smartphone that , allegedly, reset itself to factory default settings. This resulted in the loss of family pictures and videos that dated back for over a year, not to mention their contacts and texting history.

So, how is it possible that this happens? Because people are careless and do not keep in mind that hardware and software can fail. Even more so, they do not realize the potential amplitude of damages. Some people don’t know how to, others think that it won’t happen to them. So what can be done? There are many options available, and I will lay out a few. Today I will look at backing up a smartphone and I will write a separate post about backing up a pc or mac.

So you have a smartphone, and you use it as a digital camera and as an mp3 player amongst other features. But what to do to save and secure your pictures videos and other files? There are a few options available, from the automated online backup solutions to manual or software enabled possibilities.

Option 1: Backing up to the cloud

There are many services that can be used to backup your data.automatically. From Drop Box to One Drive and Google Drive. Apple offers iCloud as well. Drop Box offers to automatically backup your pictures and videos to the cloud once your phone is connected to a wifi network. Google Drive does too. This enables you to have an automated backup of your pictures and videos. For Android based devices, synchronising with your gmail will save your contacts and calendar. For iPhone users, you can use iCloud. There are also third party apps available to backup text messages and other content. However, for most people the key is to backup pictures and videos.

Option 2: Manual backup

This is the most time consuming option as it requires that you connect your device to a computer and then copy over the content to a backup media. You also have to be methodical and systematic to do backups on a regular basis in order to not loose data.

Option 3: Use a software

For Apple users, this is really simple as you can use iTunes to sync all of your phone to your computer. For Android users it depends on the device. For Example, LG includes an app to sync your phone. But quite frankly I do not use any of those.

Best solution:

The best solution is to do a cloud backup and periodically back up manually. This insures a double backup and also you will not have to worry about backing up every week in terms of your pictures and videos. Keep in mind that your content is online and can be accessed so keep it clean and decent, unless you feel comfortable in potentially sharing your personal files with unwaranted users (there is very little risk to this BTW.)

Software as a service or traditional licensing?

So I had mentioned in my last post that I would discuss Software as a Service or SAAS. I was busy lately so I took a break from the blog. So what about this SAAS thing?

Software as a service is the fact of offering an application as a subscription rather than as a lifetime license. This has many advantages, but also several downsides. The perfect examples of SAAS are Adobe and Microsoft. As the most popular providers of enterprise and consumer software these two tech giants decided to offer their most popular software offerings such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.

So, as a consumer am I better off to buy a software license outright or to “lease” the application? It honestly depends on your needs. If you need an application for a short to mid term timeframe, the cost of subscription may be more advantageous as opposed to the license itself. However if you intent to use the software in the long run, you are usually better off to buy the application outright.

A major advantage of SAAS is that you get access to the latest version all the time, whereas if you buy a specific software you get updates only until the developer is actively offering the version you bought. So if you tend to always upgrade to the most recent version, SAAS may be worth considering.

However, if you tend to work offline, SAAS is not a good solution as most SAAS subscriptions require a continuous online connection. So if you tend to work in a remote area or in an isolated environment this is not your best option.

And what about cost? In the short run, SAAS is less expensive than a license in the short to mid term. The perfect comparison for this is Microsoft Office;

If you compare MS Office Home and Student to Office 365, here is what you get;

Office Home and Student 2013 sells for 139.00 on the Microsoft Store.
A One year subscription to Office 365 Personal costs 69.00 from Microsoft.

Office 2013 includes Word, Excel, Power Point and One Note;
Office 365 adds Outlook, Access and Publisher with on top a 1TB shared space on OneDrive.

So which one to choose? If you want to save money in the long run and the apps offered by the Home and Student edition meet your needs, then by all means get the lifetime license. But be prepared that in a few years it will become obsolete as it will no longer be updated and patched.

If you want the latest apps then you can subscribe to the Office 365. As a bonus if you have multiple family members that use different apps, then you may want to consider Office 365 Home, which allows you to use apps on up to 5 devices.

Milestones: A Thank You to all who have read my blog

With yesterday's post, I reached two milestones;

I penned my 50th post and reached 750 visits on my blog. To me this is unbelievable and when I revived the blog, I did not expect this. I did not resume the blog in order to reach such heights. I just wanted to have a creative outlet where I can voice my opinion and share some experiences.

I want to thank all my readers, regardless if you read one post to kill some time or if you are reading my column on a regular basis.

The fact that I have an audience on four continents proves that social media knows no borders and that people far and wide share some common interests. l am thankful to each and everyone of you who has taken their time to visit my blog and I hope that you have found on it interesting and perhaps entertaining content.

I will return with a technical post later this weekend on the topic of SAAS (Software as a Service).

Once again, many thanks to you all.

Greg

Introducing Technology to Kids: When should we?

So lately I was kept busy taking care of my kids who got sick. When they are not feeling well, little ones tend to be very tired and attached to some object offering comfort. To some, this object may be a game console or a tablet while others may want to watch their favorite TV show.For my older boy, who’s three and a half, this means watching YouTube videos.

Given the presence of technology today and the amount of time that I spent with the kids in the past few days, I was debating what is the proper age to introduce technology to kids. Be it TV, a tablet or a kid friendly computer, your child (ren) may be exposed to technology sooner or later.

For my oldest boy, I guess his first exposure was around 17 months old when he started daycare and his demand for media content increased as he developed his speech and vocabulary. By the time he was about two years old he was able to ask for specific TV shows and music content. Because we live in a cable free house, this means that most of the kid’s entertainment comes from YouTube. By the time he was about three, my son was able to vaguely use my phone to browse through pictures and had an understanding that YouTube was where you watch TV. At some point this winter he took me by surprise when he powered on the TV and changed channels on his own (I have an antenna to get basic channels). Also, his grandma bought him a Leap Pad for Christmas, which I promptly returned to the store.

Why? Because the last thing that I want is for my kids to become hooked up to gaming or other multimedia content. We use this sort of activity as a reward for good behavior or as a comfort (such as when they are sick) rather than as a part of daily activities. I don’t believe that my son needs a Leap Pad at his age and even if I would, the Leap Pad would be far from my first choice as a child’s first personal device.

So what would be an appropriate age? Quite frankly it’s very much dependent on the child because I would not want kids to become addicted to this sort of stuff at an early age. I understand however that today there is a lot of beneficial uses for a tablet such as educational content and apps. My own idea is to buy my older son a tablet for his 5th birthday so that he can familiarize himself with it before going to school. I will also use my own tablet and smartphone with him to introduce him slowly and still be able to control the usage time and content. And yes I am aware of the existence of parental control settings but I want to avoid attachment to the device.

So there you have it, a geek’s input on parenting and technology. Now let me go play Lego blocks and Little people with my kids as soon as I get out of work.

Older PC vs Full HD

So yesterday I concluded the old laptop trial with a clear failure. So this got me thinking about a specific issue: what are the minimum requirements in today’s era of resource hungry media content when it comes to personal computers.

In order to determine this, I decided to do certain specific tasks on three separate machines with different hardware specifications. The tasks are;

1. Watch a streamed HD video from a web source in 720p and 1080p;
2. Watch a downloaded video file in 1080p that is in .mp4 format stored on a usb 3.0 stick;
3. Edit a picture while listening to music in a separate application and browsing the web.

My test machines are;

1. My Uber Station; Windows 7 64 bit,  i7 4th gen cpu, 32gb ram, SSD drive,
   GForce 670 2gb video card;
2. My Theater PC; Windows 7 64 bit, i5 2nd gen cpu, 8gb ram, SSD drive,
   GForce 610 1gb video card;
3. My in law's PC; Windows 7 32 bit, Amd Athlon 3800 xp, 2gb DDR2 ram, sata drive,
   GForce 8400 512mb video card.

I connected each of the machines to a 27 inch lcd monitor running at full HD (1920 x 1080) and started testing. The idea is to see how would a six year old pc handle HD content versus a mid range 3 year old one versus a top of the line modern workstation.

As expected, the Uber Station had no problems completing any of the tasks due to its overkill hardware setup. I was able to easily watch full HD video while running multiple applications on a dual screen display.

What I did not expect however was the behaviour of the mid range Theater pc. Let me explain;

When I Did the initial test, streaming HD video online I had no problems, my kids happily watching YouTube videos in full HD. However, when I plugged my USB key into a USB 3.0 port and launched a 1GB full HD file, VLC froze. Once the file was transferred to the desktop, it ran just fine. The music and web surfing test concluded without incident.

On my inlaws’ PC, I was surprised that I was unable to play any HD content despite the dedicated video card and the files being copied to the local desktop. Also online content was choppy and only the 3rd task of music and web surfing was successfully completed. In an effort to get their PC optimized, I will try to upgrade the memory in the in laws’ computer and see if this solves the issue.

The bottom line is that outdated hardware is generally incompatible with today’s high definition media content. Does this mean that you need to replace your computer every year? No, but when you do you should invest into a future proof device that can potentially be upgraded as its purpose evolves.

Old Hardware Challenges

So after a break, I am getting back to the project of Linux on the old laptop. In my last post, I introduced Linux base concepts and talked about distributions, or distros. With that in mind, and knowing my hardware limitations I headed over to http://distrowatch.com/ to take a look at some options.

My immediate thought was to download Puppy Linux because of its known compatibility with older hardware and low resource requirements. I downloaded the Live CD and was on my way.

Once the live cd loaded, I was surprised at how slow and sluggish everything felt. I am talking about the menus, seup and everything, not just online content. I was hoping to render the old laptop useable for basic functionality such as playing preschool games for young kids and printing recipes and using it as an online access point to browse for recipes and such.

However, I was seriously disapointed. I thought that by using a minimalist operating system and not expecting to access highly graphical content, I would be able to put the old laptop to good use. Quite frankly, the end result is that it becomes a typewriter, with limitations. I thought about installing windows XP, but I figure that since it is no longer updated or supported it will become a security threat if I connect it to the net.

Other than that, I do not see how I can use the old laptop, within the spectrum of my interests and work. So in the end, I will bring the device to a recycling centre as I would feel ashamed to give it to someone. Because today being able to access online content is the root of using a computer or other such device, this old laptop no longer cuts it.

If all you want to do is type letters and listen to mp3’s then may be you would be ok, if not then get even the most basic tablet or laptop and you will be much better off.

Technology, an evolution but not always an improvement

So I took a break from the blog this weekend to spend some time with my family. A family that lost one of its most influential and oldest member as my Grandmother passed away a few months shy of her 90th birthday.

So you may wonder as you read this what does my Grandmother have in common with technology. Quite frankly it depends on your point of view. She never touched a computer on her own and was very old fashioned so even when computers and the internet came into the mainstream and became household essential services rather than luxuries about fifteen years ago, no one ever got her on the band wagon. I was fortunate enough that some of my family members who visited my Grandmother on a regular basis were tech savvy and I could see her on Skype a few times and she was able to see her great grand kids.

But to me, when I look at people like my Grandma, I see individuals with a diversity of knowledge and experiences. Many just like her who were born in a time when electricity and running water were luxuries. These people and their experiences are crucial to us as we sit in front of our connected device of choice, frustrated that our connection is slow or spotty. Why? Because these people went through real hardship.

A few weeks ago, there was no water in the house for over 12 hours due to a burst water pipe on our street. With two toddlers at home, water, especially hot water, is essential but taken for granted. All we have to do is turn the tap and 99.9% of the time we have hot water instantly. Kids can get messy, especially when they are trying to become autonomous around mealtime. I was frustrated because I had no water at supper time and had to use wipes and paper towels to make do. I also thought about Grandma and the stories told by my Dad about living in the country in the fifties without running water and let alone a hot water tank. I must say that my Grandma and others from her generation were quite brave and hard working to cook, clean and do laundry all by hand. Today, we have a washing machine, a dryer, iron free shirts and the internet.

As we can see technology has rapidly evolved over the past 60 years or so. Today we have instant access to information electronically whereas before, students in schools had books (I know they still exist and I enjoy them from time to time). I remember my Grandparents reading newspapers and magazines as a pastime and a means of keeping informed. I still have tucked away post cards and letters they sent to me, hand written. I also have a few black and white photographs and a camera that belonged, I believe to my Grandfather. I also own a record player and a few records. Today we have one device, mainly a smart phone, which allows us to take unlimited pictures and videos, listen to music, read a digital newspaper and contact each other through Skype or Face Time.

So one device has replaced my Grandmother’s TV, VCR, newspaper, magazine and stationary. But nothing can replace her vast life experiences and resilient determination in a world where self-entitled individuals who believe that all is due to them find ways to complain even though they are warmly tucked in with their smartphone or tablet and have access to content so vast that most of it is rubbish, while their microwave oven cooks their processed dinner, their washer washes their clothes and they have disposable diapers to clothe their children.

So there you have it, a salute to my Grandmother as well as all of those who like her have witnessed life first hand without digital interference.

Introduction to Linux

So yesterday, I started a new project, about an old laptop. But I think that before I actually start talking about the project itself, I will take a few minutes to introduce Linux to the readers. While I know that those reading who are geeks and techies know what Linux is, those who are not in that category may not. Linux being very powerful and full of qualities, this may come as a surprise. Given the misconceived notion of complexity Linux is not popular amongst mainstream users. I am not even sure how many people out there know that Apple’s OS X is based on Linux code.

So what is Linux? It’s a base of code used to develop a series of operating systems called Distributions or Distros. At the base, most linux use the same code or Kernel and features are added on top of the Kernel to form a Distro. But before I bore and loose you with technical jargon, let me say this;

Linux is a FREE, legitimate and fully functional alternative to Windows and OS X. Since it is community developed, the development of the software is tailored to the user’s needs. Also, Linux is very flexible and lean. This means that it is perfect for use with older hardware or in a resource conceous environment, making it perfect for a project like mine.

So which version or Distro to chose? For modern hardware, I would suggest Ubuntu. It is easy to install, user friendly and easy to get used to. For older hardware, I would suggest downloading a few Live CD’s and see which one works best for your specific hardware.

In order to explain how Linux compares to Windows and OS X, let’s take a look at a few common scenarios;

1. Office use: Linux comes with free Office productivity applications embedded which will allow you to work on your documents. You can also use the pretty awesome OpenOffice.
   
2. Web Browsing: Most if not all websites will work fully as well as in a Windows environment.
   
3. Multimedia: With VLC from videolan.org, you can view all videos and listen to music like you would on any other device.
   
4. Printing: For the most part, printer vendors develop and make available drivers for major Linux distributions.
   
5. Gaming: This is the most controversial aspect. Most modern and popular games are not available under Linux due to the lack of users on the platform.
   
6. Development: Linux offers tons of apps and features that are beneficial to programmers and power users in general.
   
7. Network and Infrastructure: Linux offers a free or low cost alternative to Windows Server with similar or even improved features.

So, in the end, Linux is a free alternative to Windows with excellent support from a vast community of developers and a user friendly graphical interface. Given the fact that most versions are available in the form of a bootable CD or DVD, you can experiment without affecting your existing setup.

Geek's Treasure

Sometimes, old junk may be a good thing. It may seem odd that a blog on technology would publish a post about something old and outdated. However at times, finding an old piece of software or hardware may be a good thing. The reason why I am mentioning this is because such an incident happened to me yesterday.

As I was cleaning up my home office, I came across a really old laptop. It used to belong to my notary who got a new one a while back and left me the old one, without the hard drive, to be recycled. I clean the office two to three times a year because I no longer have a huge volume of hardware. I got rid of a lot of it when I transitioned from consulting to working full time as a specialized technician for a hospital. But since I still do some consulting from time to time and because I am a geek I still have a small lab at home.

So back to the old laptop. One may wonder what can be done with a 10 year old laptop with 512 MB of RAM and no hard drive?  A perfectly fine live Linux box. My objective is to render the laptop functional and then donate it.

Over the course of the next few days I will blog about this project. I will review one or two distros of Linux, test modern and media heavy sites on the old clunker and see if it can be used as a standalone station for day to day use for a light user.

So let's see what this old recycled laptop can do!

Social Media Advisory

In today's world where people seem to be glued to a screen from wake to sleep, and where social media replaces interpersonal relations, one can only wonder how we got there.

As a blogger, I am the first to admit that I spend way too much time connected online. However, given current social habits, I feel as though I don't have a choice if I want to share with you my opinions. In an era where blogs are replacing personal journals and in which the term "too much information " is no longer relevant, the uninitiated or those who are not yet enslaved by technology can easily get lost and confused. And those in the know, become addicts to digital contact and content.

So what can be done about this? My first suggestion would be to impose yourself a disconnect time on a regular basis. Be it every day or once a week, reserve yourself some downtime. Ideally, shut down all of your connected devices and partake in an activity that you enjoy and that has nothing to do with either your routine or your digital activity.

This is very important for you so that you can decompress, rest and bring some diversity to your life. There are many benefits to doing this.

At first it may be very challenging and may seem daunting but the reward is worth it. Here are a few ideas for you;

1. Once you get home, put your phone and tablet in your office and don't use them until the next day.

2. Rather than using the alarm on your phone, use an old school alarm clock and do not let your digital devices into your bedroom.

3. On the commute to work, if you are not driving, read a free newspaper or book rather than checking emails or social networks.

4. If you use your phone as a music player during exercises or while training, put it in Airplane Mode, or get a cheap mp3 player and leave your phone at home.

5. Challenge yourself to invent or introduce a new activity to the kids in order to get them off the TV or video games for a few hours.

6. Spend a day in a no coverage area.

The bottom line is that as much as it is a great benefit to it, digital content cannot be allowed to take over or control our lives and actions. If this was to happen, we will risk losing our identities and unique personality traits to become robots.

Samsung Gear Fit Review

One trend that we saw continue at this year's CES is the smart watch craze. It seems that every major phone vendor is offering at least one smart watch. This is a good thing because it means that prices are bound to go down and products offered should be better.

This brings me to the topic of the day; the Samsung Gear Fit. As a geek, I decided to get a smart watch a few months ago. I chose the Samsung Gear Fit because it was really inexpensive at 90 dollars. So for the price of an average watch, I managed to put a smart watch on my wrist.

So what does a smart watch do other than show the time? It turns out that quite a bit! To sum it up, here is a list of Standard features;

1. Watch, timer and alarm
2. Pedometer, Heart Rate Measure
3. Sleep Monitoring
4. Media Remote Control
5. Display of SMS, Email and Incoming Call Notifications

And these are just the standard features. The watch communicates with most Samsung smart phones via Bluetooth to sync and transmit information. Some of the other but also cool features are;

1. Customizable clock face plate and background
2. Link to calendar and phone contacts and call logs
3. Personalized applications.

Once the phone and watch are paired, you can use Samsung’s Gear Fit Manager to change apps and watch settings. You can also install additional apps onto the watch such as the Calendar and Phone Launcher.

However not all is perfect, unlike more expensive models the Samsung Gear Fit does not incorporate a speaker or microphone into it. So if you get a call and answer it off your watch then you go to the speakerphone of your phone. The watch is great for dismissing calls without removing your phone from your pocket and for checking emails and SMS messages on the fly.

In the end, the Gear Fit is a cool gadget that is primitive in comparison to some of its competitors. The fact that it only syncs with Samsung phones can be a disadvantage to some but at 90 dollars, its a viable alternative to a classic watch for geeks on a budget.

Choosing a router for your home

One of the issues I see most in my consulting practice is users suffering from poor networks in large homes. I see 4000 plus square foot homes with cheap and inadequate routers way too often. As with anything else these days, there is a plethora of choices when it comes to buying a router. From the 30 dollar basic router to the 350 dollar powerhouse and everything in between. So what to choose?

First off, look at your current setup. If you are using a router embedded in your modem which was provided by your service provider, this is the worse case scenario. If you are replacing an existing router then look at how old it is and what features it has. The idea is to improve your current setup.

Then you need to look at the different bandwidths offered by today’s routers. There are two main technologies available on the market today. Wireless N and Wireless AC. Wireless AC has speeds that rival those of wired connections, provided that the device connecting to the Wireless Network also has a Wireless AC receiver. My personal recommendation is to stick to Wireless N if you are buying an entry-level or mid-range router. If you are spending more than 200 dollars on a high end device then by all means future proof and buy a Wireless AC capable device. One important aspect is to see if the device offers dual band connectivity, which is used to better manage wireless traffic on networks with multiple wireless connections.

Next, you need to look at the antenna situation. Some routers have embedded antennas that you do not see and cannot adjust. This type of router is good for small or open spaces where positioning of the device will not affect the quality of the connection. On the other hand, you have routers that have one or more external antenna that you can rotate and therefore adjust the direction and signal strength. Also, most modern routers have 2, 3 or even up to 6 antennas. Another clear advantage is that these antennas can be replaced with stronger ones with long cables to ensure optimal placing.

Once you choose your connection type and strength you need to look at the wired connections on the device. If you do file transfers between wired devices or if you have a media server, then you will want to make sure that your new router has Gigabit Ports embedded into it to ensure fast file transfers between devices. Also, you may want to have usb ports if you intend to share printers or storage devices across your network and use the router as a server.

So what about brands, there sure are a lot of them. From the mainstream ones such as Linksys and D Link to TP Link, Asus, Netgear and Trend NEt to name a few. Currently, Linksys and Asus seem to be offering the best combination of features, performance versus the asking price.

So there you have it, a short guide on how to choose a proper router for any situation in a residential environment.

GoFundMe.com review request: USB storage on the cheap, and a Lamborghini as a bonus!

So my crowd funding campaign yielded its first donation! This means that it's review time. Our donor requested a comparison of inexpensive USB keys that cost 5$ or less.

So I went on NCIX.COM to see if I could find at least one USB drive that fit the criteria of being inexpensive. Turns out that I got 4 different ones!

So they are 8 GB each, which is not a lot of storage space for today's standards where you can get a flash drive with a capacity of 128 or even 256 GB.  Also, there of four contestants are USB 2.0 rather than the faster USB 3.0 connection.

So here is what I will look at in the comparison;

1. File transfer speed for documents, audio and video files.

2. Build quality and resistance to accidents.

3. Personal opinion.

And the contestants are;

1. Kingston DataTraveler 101 G2 8GB Capless USB Flash Drive Red

2. Patriot Xporter Pulse 8GB USB 2.0 Hi Speed Small and Stylish Flash Drive Blister

3. Silicon Power Firma F80 8GB Waterproof USB 2.0 Flash Drive - Rugged Metal

4. Kingston 8GB USB3.0 DataTraveler 100 G3 USB Flash Drive

So let the testing begin!

1. Kingston DataTraveler 101 G2 8GB Capless USB Flash Drive Red

This is a USB key at its simplest form.

2. Patriot Xporter Pulse 8GB USB 2.0 Hi Speed Small and Stylish Flash Drive Blister

This device combines looks and simplicity. However the plastic cap is easy to misplace.

3. Silicon Power Firma F80 8GB Waterproof USB 2.0 Flash Drive - Rugged Metal

This is the most durable of the foursome. It is a unibody aluminium device which makes it solid. Its design makes it look sophisticated and fits well on a key chain due to its understated color and shape.

4. Kingston 8GB USB3.0 DataTraveler 100 G3 USB Flash Drive

This one is the best of the four in terms of performance. I was surprised to buy a USB 3.0 rated USB Key for less than five dollars, let alone one from a brand like Kingston. It uses a capless click mechanism to hide the tip of the key.

Speed test results:

1. Kingston 8GB USB3.0 DataTraveler 100 G3 USB Flash Drive
2. Patriot Xporter Pulse 8GB USB 2.0 Hi Speed Small and Stylish Flash Drive Blister
3. Silicon Power Firma F80 8GB Waterproof USB 2.0 Flash Drive - Rugged Metal
4. Kingston DataTraveler 101 G2 8GB Capless USB Flash Drive Red

Without any surprise, the speed test was won by the sole USB 3.0 device and by a large margin. All 4 keys were plugged into the same USB 3.0 port on a computer running Windows 7 to transfer a folder containing pictures and videos totaling about 2 GB.


In conclusion, my recommendation when choosing an inexpensive USB key, get one which is USB 3.0 if you can since it will greatly improve transfer times. As far as durability is concerned, most products will last as long as you do not abuse them or pass them through the wash cycle. If you need a specific look, then you may also consider this aspect when making your choice. If not then don't forget that most USB keys are not a fashion statement, unless you get this;

Have a nice weekend!