No Crowds, No Bandwidth…WHAT TO DO?

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The Friday after Thanksgiving is commonly referred to as Black Friday, where people go insane and destroy each others’ bodies in order to procure deals on Christmas presents.  The Monday after Thanksgiving, on the other hand, is referred to as Cyber Monday, where people put off their jobs by going online and trying to find deals without the danger of bodily injury.

As much as we may feel tempted to be participants in this “herd behavior,” the Cyber Monday concept is no longer relevant.  A little history:

Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation.  They discovered that in 2004, online sales had risen 74%, and decided that creating a marketing day where sales could be had for online retailers would give them a little extra income.  There has been an online “Cyber Monday” established every year since.

But do not feel as if you’re missing out if you neglected to sneak onto Amazon.com during work today.  People actually started using the Monday after holiday to shop online at work because, in 2005, fast broadband internet wasn’t very common in most households.  Most people found it easier to use their company’s faster connections to do their shopping.

Since then, internet access has soared in the United States.  Approximately 77% of people in the United States have internet service.  Because of this, online retailers, hoping to stem the problem of their site crashing because of too much traffic, started online sales last Monday, and it doesn’t look like their going to start increasing prices drastically in the next couple days.  The same goes with most “free shipping” deals.

So, don’t worry if you missed the deals today.  There are many retailers still having deals on their sites and most offer free delivery for Christmas until December 15.  Two weeks, but remember to breathe.

And you can find links to my favorite online retailers on the right column of this blog

Don’t listen to those commercials on Fox News

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Often on Fox News, I see commercials warning viewers that if their computer is running slow, they may have TONS of viruses.  While this may be true in some cases, a more likely one is that you have dozens of programs starting when your computer boots up.  These programs usually run in the background, without your knowledge, using valuable memory that could make programs you actually want to use run slower.

A free solution that I found is Soluto: Anti-Frustration Software.  This product allows you to see all of the programs that start up when your computer boots.  It offers three categories for these applications: No-Brainer (things you can usually remove from the boot sequence), Potentially removable (which is only suggested for ‘advanced users’) and Cannot be removed with Soluto (which are things you should stay away from). 

After you first install the program, it will ask you to reboot your computer so that it can analyze all the programs that start.  After it analyzes (which can sometimes take a few minutes depending how slow your computer is and how many programs boot up), it will show you a list of the categories of programs.

For each of the applications in each of the categories, the program will give you a description of the program, a recommendation and advice about what OTHER users did for THEIR computers.  Under “advanced,” it will give you more information, if you’re curious. 

Now, I check my boot applications every month or so, but even so, I found that I was able to trim 20 seconds off of my boot time.  If you haven’t done something like this, and find your computer being slower than it used to be, try this and let me know how it helped.

You can leave me a Google Voice message by clicking on the link to the right, or email me at ianchristopheryoung@gmail.com to let me know if it helped, if you have any questions or suggestions about the blog.

P.S.  This program will run every time you reboot your computer as it controls what applications run and don’t run.  Don’t worry. 

Just a short reminder to start the week:

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With news like THIS being released, during this holiday season, make sure that any retail website that you input credit card information or personal information has an “HTTPS” at the beginning of the web address. 

This is a notification to you that your information is being encrypted and kept safe from hackers by professional security companies. 

No one wants to wake up Christmas morning with a charge from Milan for a week-long stay in a bungalow they did not get to experience.

Why you should care if someone took a shower

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As an early adopter of Twitter, I’ve often been asked why I would care to know when my friends take showers or go to the bathroom, or if I really think people care what type of sandwich I make for lunch.  It’s at those moments when I simply smile, say something about “the future of technology” and tell myself that I am so much smarter than they are.

People who don’t use Twitter, still think of it as the social network it was when it was born in the summer of 2006.  In those four years, it has turned into one of the number one product promotions utilities on the web.  From airlines to retail stores, companies are using Twitter more and more to let their most devoted consumers know about deals, discounts and sales on all types of products.  If you think Twitter is for self-obsessed weirdoes, you’re the one missing out.

Since 2006, Twitter has gone from “narcissistic message tack board” to “company announcement billboard.”  The great thing about Twitter, is the requirement to create short, “to the point” messages that can be read quickly by “followers.”  For a company promoting a day-long sale, new product, or “last minute meet-up,” this is a great way of letting the people who WANT to know, know.

For example, last March JetBlue announced that they would be giving out 1000 free round-trip tickets to three destinations, if their Twitter followers met them at a location in Manhattan.  Walmart frequently announces daily specials multiple times a day to their followers.  Using their official Twitter account, the FDA lets followers know about any product recalls that they are announcing.

Organizations are frequently seeing the benefits that this direct connection can have with their customers.  Comcast has a dedicated team of 15 people who answer concerns and problems brought to their attention by customers over Twitter.  There are even CEOs of companies who, while not necessarily responding to your tweets directly, allow their customers to develop what seems to be a more personal relationship with the company and upper management.

Twitter even allows emergency workers, researchers and news agencies to understand and respond to natural disasters and armed conflicts through analysis of multiple Twitter users, location and timestamps.  By analyzing multiple Twitter messages that are posted, scientists can understand how an earthquake may have damaged certain areas of a city or where an armed conflict may have started or begun spreading to.

Mostly for the casual user of Twitter, it can help with finding deals and products that you may need or want; this is especially true for the holiday season.  So, my suggestion is to create an account for yourself, “follow” the Twitter accounts of favorite stores or product companies, and wait for the deals to roll in.  Because in an economy like we are in right now, companies are looking for any way to get your attention.

Don’t repair that 6 month old product, just buy a new one…

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In years, decades and centuries past, the products that humanity made were able to be repaired, when broken.  A toy stopped working: you replaced the batteries; clothes had a hole: get a patch and sew them up; lawn mower not running: you most likely fiddled with the carburetor.  Even if a product couldn’t be repaired by yourself at home, the owner had options of where to get it repaired: officially at the retailer, or at an independent shop owned by someone who knew what they were doing. 

When my car breaks down, there are still independently owned businesses that can look at it and fix it (usually for cheaper than the dealer).  If I have a watch that stops working, I know that I would never be able to change the battery myself, so I go to an independent jeweler.  The same goes for almost any other type of product; the thing I do not do, however, is just throw it away and buy a new one.

That rule does not apply for our current, and approximately last 2 or 3, generation of technology products.

Now, I understand that much of the technology that we use these days is WAY too complicated to tinker with and fix by the home user.  Most are circuit boards and solder that I would NEVER get my fingers CLOSE to touching.  BUT, many of these products have storage devices, memory devices and batteries installed in them.  These devices should be EASY for someone to be able to switch and replace.

Instead, devices like MP3 players, cellular phones and tablet computers do not allow their owners to swap devices for larger capability.  This is ESPECIALLY the case for Apple products.

I have an Apple iMac computer for recording music.  It was the EASIEST computer to set up.  The problem with these products is that they are NOT easy to upgrade. 

Think of an iPhone. 

The “owner” is not able to replace the battery themselves.  The owner is not able to expand the storage space of the device.  If the owner needs to replace the battery, they can take it in to an Apple store and the device will be available in 3 days if you pay $83 for a battery that costs $30 online.  If the owner does it themselves, at home or at a third-party provider?  If you tinker with your device by opening or trying to open the device, Apple will void your warranty and will not look at your product for any repair afterwards.

And this is not just Apple.  Most technology companies have stickers on their devices that are placed over the screws to open it that say that by removing this sticker, you are voiding any warranty that the device has and it will not be serviced by the company.  So, if you change your own battery, then months later your screen won’t turn on, they won’t look at it.

Why do they do this?  Well, if you can’t upgrade or replace yourself, you will be more likely to purchase another one.  But that will be when prices for the device have come down to a normal range…BUT WAIT!  A NEW and IMPROVED device (with features that really SHOULD have been on the last version) is available for $200 more than the replacement, plus it has all the newer features.

Do you see?  You get a brand new product instead of buying replacement parts for the old, the company gets you to buy the new device at “new product prices” and…meh, recycling, trash, environmental waste?  Who cares.  I live in America.  I don’t want last year’s version; people will think I’m a dork.

And the world turns.

Some Important Information for Uninformed Parents about What Information Your Kids Should Share Online

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I’ve never truly understood parents who get upset that their kids are putting all their personal information on Facebook, when they allow their children to have computers in their bedrooms.  Parents: FAMILY computers should be in family areas where everyone has access and in full view of the family.  Not in household “offices,” where the doors can be locked; not in your kids’ bedrooms.  And they shouldn’t have internet on their phones, either.  I’m just saying.

Now that I’ve spouted out my pet peeves, today iKeepSafe and the organization, Connect Safely, released A PARENTS' GUIDE TO FACEBOOK.  In it, they go into detail about what Facebook is, why it’s so popular, if it’s ‘safe’ and how to optimize Facebook for children.

KEEP IN MIND: IF YOUR CHILD IS ON FACEBOOK AND THEY ARE YOUNGER THAN 13, THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW.  THEY HAVE LIED TO THE COMPANY ABOUT THEIR AGE AND THAT IS A VIOLATION OF THE CONTRACT YOUR CHILD “AGREES” TO.  IF YOU SIGNED YOUR OWN CHILD UP FOR FACEBOOK AND THEY ARE YOUNGER THAN 13, YOU ARE A BAD EXAMPLE.

Since the guide above is around 35 pages (it offers great information and I truly suggest you sit down and read it if you’re uninformed about Facebook.  Heck, read it if you know EVERYTHING about Facebook), they offer a very convenient SHORT GUIDE with suggested settings for teenagers and even for adults who want to know how to keep their information private.

I VERY STRONGLY suggest that anyone look it over.  Especially for young teens, but even for adults, in this day and age, we want our friends to know about our lives.  It connects us to each other.  However, we must realize that in some instances, we don’t want our fellow employees and employers to know everything we do outside of the office.  The internet should allow us to be able to be more honest with each other, but it shouldn’t take away our privacy.

The Merging of Products

I’m sorry that I have been sporadic in my postings, lately.  I have been feeling run down and have had some bad days the last few weeks.  I am hoping that, as I have been feeling a ton better as of late, I will be more consistent.

As I recently purchased a new phone, I was looking into the features found in certain phones.  (Full disclosure, I purchased a Google phone, the DroidX)  I had a Zune music player, GPS unit and phone that I had to carry in and out of my house every time I went somewhere.  After my GPS was stolen, I wanted to consolidate some products.

The great thing about current phones is that they can take the place of most music players, laptops, schedulers and, recently, GPS units.  Many phones come with online directions through MapQuest or Google Maps.  Recently, however, Google has released a Beta version of a product called Google Navigation.

As opposed to most phone map applications, which offer step-by-step directions to a destination, Google Navigation offers real-time, turn-by-turn directions, just like current GPS units.  That is the main reason why I switched from my Blackberry phone to Google, and I couldn’t be happier.

So, my advice these days is, if you are in the market for a GPS unit, music player or phone to look into combining them into one unit.  I would have told you to get individually devoted products a few years ago, but phone technology is getting so that music and GPS technology in phones is getting as good as that in individual products.