Science and Religion

7 Ways to Stay Connected Without Facebook

Facebook. If you don’t use it, you’ve heard of it. And if you use it, you probably use it a lot. It’s a great way to stay connected with friends and family, and reconnect with people you haven’t seen or heard from in ages.

But how would you stay connected if you suddenly found yourself without Facebook? Here are 7 suggestions in no particular order.

1. Email – it’s not limited to a certain number of characters, and you can attach pictures, link to videos, etc. to your heart’s content.
2. Texting – a great way to stay connected on the go. But I’ve seen people texting each other while standing side-by-side. Lame!
3. Instant Messaging – Live Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! IM, etc. They’re like Facebook chat. But better.
4. VoIP – services like Skype have allowed us to  interact like never before. You can have a voice call or video chat with any other Skype user for free. The Skype client also has built in instant messaging.
5. Phone call – call someone on your cell phone or your home phone (if you still have one) and just talk. It’s fun to call friends or family you haven’t talked with in a long time, catch up, and share your memories.
6. Write a letter – a real one. Or send a postcard. There’s nothing quite like getting a hand-written note in the mail from someone you love. Try it sometime. It’s actually pretty fun to write letters back and forth, especially to family or friends that may not be into the Internet or texting.
7. Face to face – turn off the computer, your internet-connected gadgets, and your cell phones. Connect “offline” with your family and friends. Go to them or invite them over. Visit, talk, interact in the “real world” instead of cyberspace. Play boardgames (remember those?). Go for a walk. Have a BBQ. Or just sit around and enjoy one another’s company. That, in my opinion, is one of the best ways to really stay connected.

Energy Efficient Computing

I’ve been growing increasingly interested in getting more computer performance with less power consumption. And it seems that’s the direction computers are going these days, anyway. The main reason is to save money – these Phoenix summers can really crank up the electric bill! But I’ve always been a big fan of doing more with less in any aspect of life.

The big processor manufacturers – Intel and AMD – are constantly releasing chips that do more with less. The Intel Atom platform, for example, is designed with power efficiency in mind.

Lately, I’ve wanted a computer that I could leave on 24/7 without worrying about it cranking up my electric bill. This past week I built a custom Atom box. I bought a ZOTAC ION series ITX motherboard and a RaidMax 0907BP ITX case with a 300 watt PSU. Together they only cost $200. I already had a 500 GB SATA hard drive, SATA DVD-RW drive, and RAM at home, which I used to complete the machine.

The CPU is an Intel Atom 330 – a dual core with HT that only consumes 29 watts at idle! 29 watts – that’s just under half of what a standard 60 watt light bulb uses! It also gives off little heat, and the stock CPU fan seems to do an excellent job at keeping it around 46 C – well within recommended operating temps.

Everyday computing tasks, such as surfing the net, checking email, watching YouTube vids, or typing a document are a breeze. It even handles light gaming pretty well – it’s not going to give you insane FPS, but it’s adequate.

The nVidia ION chipset does an excellent job with video. Although I have not yet tested it, it has HDMI out and is capable of rendering full 1080p high definition video.

At present, I intend to use it as a media/file server and streaming machine, which it is more than capable of doing. And I have no qualms about leaving it on all the time because it sips power.

The next item on my wish list is a Mac Mini which, according to Apple’s website, only consumes 10 watts at idle! It also has a more powerful Core 2 Duo processor, which can crank through tasks more efficiently than an Atom processor, thus allowing it to idle for longer periods of time and produce a much higher performance per watt.

But if you’re on a budget like me, building a custom Intel Atom machine will only cost you around $300 to $400 – less than half what a new Mac Mini costs.

Mikogo: An Excellent, Free Screen Sharing App

Imagine you’re talking with your not-so-computer-inclined friend who lives on the other side of the known universe about a problem he’s been having with his computer.

He tries to describe the problem he’s having via IM and over the phone, but in spite of your questions, you just can’t seem to get to the bottom of the issue.

You could use a screen sharing app like GoToMeeting or Webex to view his screen, take control of his keyboard and mouse, and help him troubleshoot. But you have to pay for a subscription to use their services.

Enter Mikogo, a robust screen sharing and web meeting app with all the great features of those other guys that is ABSOLUTELY FREE for home and business use.

It has quite an impressive list of features, among them:

• Desktop sharing
• Support for up to 10 meeting participants
• Switch presenter
• Remote keyboard and mouse control

For a computer geek like myself who is always troubleshooting computer issues at work and home, Mikogo has been an extremely useful tool. The fact that it is free and easy to use makes it the perfect addition to my own “arsenal” of preferred apps.

What’s the catch? No catch. The company behind Mikogo, BeamYourScreen, offers a wide variety of products, and they launched Mikogo to help fill a very real need for a free screen sharing app, as well as help get the word out about their other offerings.

Worried about security? Don’t be. Mikogo utilizes all the latest security standards and comes with several features that allow you to control who has access to what.

Did I mention it runs on Windows, Mac, and even has a portable version you can run from a USB thumb drive?

Mikogo really is a great, free screen sharing and online collaboration app, and I highly recommend it.

(Originally published on my Lockergnome blog 8/28/10)

6 Ways To Keep Your Computer in Shape

For those of you with computers running Windows (XP, Vista, or 7), which is most of you, here are 6 things you can do to keep your computer running at its best.

1. Defragment your hard drive at least once a month. Over time, different pieces of files can get scattered over different places in your hard drive. This can make your computer slow down as it works harder to load applications and open files. You can use the built-in Windows utility called Disk Defragmenter, or you can use a 3rd party tool. I prefer to use Defraggler. It’s easy to install and run, and you can even schedule it to defrag automatically on a regular basis. It also seems to do a more thorough job than the Windows tool.
2. Clean up your hard drive at least once a month. Temporary files, logs, and other unnecessary files can clutter up your hard drive and take up space that could be put to better use. Windows has a built-in utility called Disk Cleanup. There are also 3rd party apps that are more thorough and offer more features. I prefer to use CCleaner.
3. Run a manual, full virus scan at least once a month. Even if you already have a anti-virus software installed that runs automatic scans, it never hurts to run a full scan manually once in a while. There are several good, free anti-virus apps out there. See my post “Immunize Your Computer” for information on a few of them. Personally, I use Microsoft Security Essentials.
4. Avoid using Internet Explorer whenever possible. There are several other good web browsers you can use instead of IE that offer more features and are more secure. IE has made strides in the area of security with the release of IE 8, but it is still vulnerable to adware, spyware, and malware attacks that other browsers aren’t. Whenever I talk to someone who says their computer has been infected, the first thing I ask them is what web browser they use. Almost every time, it’s IE. Use Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, or Safari instead.
5. Be cautious about opening suspicious links or email attachments. These are common ways computers become infected. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.  Even emails that appear to come from someone you trust can have infected email attachments. Do not run or install any programs unless you are sure of their source.
6. Make sure you have the latest Windows security updates and patches installed. Check at least once a month. If you’re Using Windows XP, go to http://update.microsoft.com (you will have to use IE for that). Vista and Windows 7 users can open and run the Windows Update utility. Even if you have updates set to automatically download and install, it never hurts to double-check. This will ensure you are as protected as possible against vulnerabilities in Windows itself that might be exploited by an attacker.

There are certainly other things you can do to enhance and optimize your Windows computer experience, but these 6 seem to be among the most important…and the most overlooked.

Or…you could get a Mac and not have to worry about most of these things. But that’s a topic for another post. Happy computing!