Answers and advice from a geek who knows stuff
In the days of new technology, at some point you’re going to upgrade your computer. Transferring files from your old computer to the new one is something that might scare you, however Windows cloud storage system “One Drive” makes it easy. Follow these few steps to have your precious pictures and documents on your brand new computer in a jiffy!
Sanyo’s M1 and Apple’s iPhone both include 2.0-megapixel cameras that take decent quality photos, and Blackberry phones include a built-in flash with their 2.0-megapixel cameras.
More recently the Samsung Flipshot hit the market with a high quality 3.0-megapixel camera; putting it head and shoulders above typical camera phones like the Motorola RAZR V3 with it’s low-end 1.3-megapixel camera.
In fact, most cell phones still come with low resolution 1.3 megapixel VGA cameras that take low quality pictures; just enough to capture the moment, but nothing you’d want to show off in a photography contest.
You can still pull off a little magic though with your existing camera phone, provided you follow a few simple guidelines:
Stillshots are better than motion shotsIf you can get your subject to hold still, the picture will turn out sharper and more recognizable. Action shots – especially with the slight delay inherent to digital cameras – will turn out very blurry or bitmapped on a camera phone (that choppy look you get from a low-res camera).
Take your photos outside with plenty of light. Most camera phones don’t come with a flash, which means they’ll use a longer shutter time indoors to capture more light – resulting in an overall blurry picture, since subjects will be moving while the shutter remains open.
Avoid too much bright sun however, since it can create unattractive deep facial shadows if your shot is taken into the sun. A good rule of thumb is to always keep the sun behind you, which will illuminate your subject and get rid of ugly shadows.
Question: I’m considering the new, WiFi challenged, Blackberry Storm. Being that 3G is somewhat weak at home, I would like to know if it is possible to pair the bluetooth equipped Storm to my Internet connected PC and then surf the Web from the Storm via the PCs high speed connection?
Answer: (this question is waiting for an answer. If you know the answer, please feel free to use the comment form below and be sure to leave your name and a link to your website, so I can give you credit for your answer)
First of all, I applauded her thoughtfulness – I mean, wouldn’t you love to get an iPod for your birthday? My wife gave me a 4GB Black iPod Nano for Christmas a year ago and I still use it every single day. 🙂
The answer of course depends on how your husband will use his new iPod (working out, passing time in rush hour traffic, etc). But I recommended the iPod video because of its large storage size, bright monitor, and highest cool factor.
Here’s the lineup of iPods from Apple, with the pros and cons of each one. As you can see, they range in price and size from small to big. Any of these would make a great gift, but they do have different uses.
The smalles of iPods, it stores about 240 songs and is great for working out or other activities where you can’t stop to change songs. However, it doesn’t have a screen or display to indicate which song is playing, and it simple plays each song at random – hence the name “Shuffle”.
The sleek Nano is what I have, and it ranges in storage size from 1 GB to 8 GB – enough to store about 2000 songs. Apple just redesigned it with a 1.5-inch color display that’s 40% brighter than before (and it was already great before).
One thing I like about the Nano is that it doesn’t have any moving parts. It’s great for working out with and I never have to worry about it skipping.
There are also tons of add-on gizmos you can buy for the Nano, such as the landyard headphones or the armband for working out. You can even get an FM-transmitter attachment if you want to listen to the radio on your Nano (hey, ya never know).
This is what my friend ended up getting for his birthday, and at my recommendation too.
It’s about twice the size of the Nano, but still just right. It comes in 30GB and 80GB sizes for up to a whopping 20,000 songs! He has the entire Battlestar Galactica first season series loaded on it, along with ALL of his music, and he still has plenty of room left for more.
Oh, and don’t worry about whether your husband will ever actually watch videos on it. The fact that he can is what makes it such a great gift, and the show-off cool factor is out of this world :cool:. (it turns out the video is good quality and fun to watch too)
The iPad’s built-in keyboard automatically switches from large keys when you’re holding it the wide way (landscape) and small keys when you’re holding it vertically, but did you know there’s a third keyboard option that’s even better?
On a default Windows installation, every time you try to install or run a program (or do just about anything), it prompts you to ask if you really want to do this. Here’s how to turn that off.
These rechargeable USB batteries can be charged anywhere there’s a computer or laptop with a USB port, making them a great travel accessory.
I’ve used TurboTax Online several times, and each time received about $2500 back from Uncle Sam.
TurboTax knows about all of the latest tax laws. For example, this year you can claim a $60 deduction on long distant phone charges without even having to provide a receipt. It’s one of the questions asked by TurboTax, which saved me the cost of using the software right off the bat! 🙂
I refinanced my home last year as well, and TurboTax walked me through all of the deductions I could take, included points, prepaid interest, and real estate taxes. I like the “interview style” approach that it takes, where it asks you relevant questions and you just have to answer yes or no… and then they tell you if you’re eligible for a deduction.
Even with my self-employment income, TurboTax greatly simplified the Schedule C filing, and helped me find several home office deductions that completely offset my self-employment taxes for the year!
It’s often desirable to convert DVD movies to an electronic format so they can be viewed as video files directly from your computer or mobile device.