USB-C A Game Changer With Pitfalls
As always, I’ll keep this relatively brief and skip oodles of tech garbage. What you need to know is that in the past, a USB cable was a USB cable: you could connect a USB-3 to a USB-1 or USB-2 hub, or a USB-2 cable to a a USB-3 hub. Of course, the passage of data would vary: the higher the number the faster the data transmission rates. USB-3 is MUCH faster than USB-1, for example. The new USB-C is very fast indeed, BUT, for the first time, USB cables now have variations, some of which could be harmful to your equipment. You can find compliant cables at this website. I have found that the Amazon Basic cables section offers a nice variety of safe, reasonably priced cables and adapters. Be SURE your cables are compatible with your chargers and devices as mismatching can burn out one or the other – or both.
What’s in a Color?
More than you’d think – according to researchers. Below is an easily digestible presentation showing how colors affect our perceptions and our emotions – at least that’s the theory. I will make two personal comments here 1) I do not agree with everything below and 2) I was shocked to see that the color blue induces trust – considering the age-old expression I feel blue, indicating one is something akin to sad…
YELP Wins Case
The California Supreme Court has ruled the increasingly popular review site is free from any liability when dissatisfied or upset customers write negative reviews. Of course, the verdict that was handed down is lengthy and teeming with legalese, but it boils down to freedom of speech – online. Nobody is quite sure how this will affect the popularity or growth of YELP. While this writer is a staunch advocate of free speech, I believe it carries with it the need for responsibility. Example: I should not be able to shout obscenities at your wife and kids at the grocery store because they have meat in their basket and I am a vegetarian. The problem for YELP, and its listed businesses and services, is now a simple one. Example 1: Employee is fired and very unhappy about it, so they go onto YELP and write a scathing review of the place that fired them – they might also convince a friend or two to do the same thing. Example 2: One of those customers who simply is never happy with anything, goes onto YELP and unfairly criticizes the products or services of a business. Final Example: A troll, and the internet has them in copious numbers, decides to attack a specific business – perhaps a business they have never even actually been to. Social media is great, and provides us all with several useful platforms and means of communicating our experiences. But it is truly a double-edged sword – and the second side of that sword can be quite destructive, and it can be so without genuine justification.
Insuring Technology
Do you insure your technological wonders? Your desktop, tablet, smart phone, digital camera or laptop? If you answered “no,” you are in the majority – by far. If you are considering insuring any of your tech, you should first cautiously and prudently decide if it’s worth it: a desktop has a much smaller chance of being stolen or lost than a laptop, and a smart phone has a much greater chance of being damaged than a desktop. Then there are costs to consider: do you have a $250 laptop or a $3,000 laptop? Do you have a $100 smart phone or a $1,000 smart phone? Do you have a $175 digital camera or a $5,000 digital camera? Once you decide to insure, you have to go about the business of finding the right insurer, and ascertaining the policy you want and what it will cost. Finally, what will the policy REALLY offer you in the way of protection/coverage? And this brings us to the primary purpose of this article: will your selected insurance policy actually replace or repair your tech when something happens to it during the course of your REASONABLE use(s)? An acquaintance of mine had his iPad stolen at a coffee shop while he went to grab his coffee – and did not get any benefit from his insurance. Another acquaintance, who was paying over $400 a year for camera insurance, had his camera stolen during a shoot and could not collect anything. The point being: read the fine print – all of it. I know, it will be boring and teeming with legalese, but you really need to read it to determine what the broad strokes of the policy actually mean. As only ONE example: the general description of the policy may say “replace your stolen camera.” But when you read the entire policy, it states the equipment must be “secured” when it’s stolen. Some of the definitions of “secured” are defined, others are left to interpretation. Such interpretations of your specific situation can take many months to investigate, etc. During which time you have no camera. You are offered a fraction of the true value/replacement cost of the equipment, and usually, eventually you’ll likely just take that pittance to help offset a small part of the your replacement costs. Bottom line: caveat emptor (buyer beware).
Windows 10: An Underused Program
The Notepad may well be the most underused, underrated program that comes free in Windows 10. In fact, the lowly Notepad has been a part of Windows since, well, almost the very beginning of Microsoft’s OS. The simple Notepad program has many highly desirable features, and has always been a favorite option for programmers. First, it’s ultra-lightweight. That is to say that it consumes almost no resources, which leaves precious RAM and processing power to more important tasks. It also opens instantly and closes just as quickly. It creates tiny files, compared to programs like WORD – a great word processor, but it is slow to open and close, uses more resources and creates larger files. Of course, if you want to print a letter in color, or use features like italics, bold, underline and so forth – then Notepad is not for you. If you want those things, but do not want to pay for WORD, try Notepad’s big brother WordPad (also free in Windows 10). It still does not have the power of WORD, or even the (also free) Google Docs, but it’s also uber-fast and leaves resources to more important tasks/programs. Notepad is great for making notes – while on the phone, when composing something complex, when writing a paper or letter, when figuring something out or even for keeping a schedule. I keep a list of todos on my desktop, and access it all day long. It’s MUCH faster and easier than any scheduling program, and helps me keep up with myriad tasks – many of which are minor, but must be done. Once you start to use it, you’ll find it can be most helpful in many situations. Notepad has earned a coveted spot on my very tiny list of programs on my Taskbar. Try it, you’ll be glad you did… NB: Notepad has no spelling checker, and I put the word “temp” at the end of any filename which has an extremely limited shelf life – like phone call notes.
You’re Going to Want an HTTPS site
In last month’s newsletter I penned an article entitled “HTTPS Vs HTTP.” In it, I hinted that someday all browsers would make a clear (and somewhat scary) mention of the fact that a site was unsecured (HTTP). At right, I repeated the graphic I used last month showing how Google displays the difference between HTTPS and HTTP. Well, my most recent tech research indicates that within the very near future, you are simply going to have to have an HTTPS (secured) site – assuming your website is something you want listed by Google, Bing, etc. Contrary to popular belief, especially during discussions on the subject of net neutrality, using the internet is not free – and the more sophisticated and useful it becomes, the more costly it becomes. The cost of an HTTPS URL is just the latest in a growing line of necessary costs for using the internet. Now, before you throw your hands up and shout something derisive about the costs of the internet – bear this in mind: over 90% of ALL purchasing decisions start on the internet. Add to that the fact that 98% of shoppers carry their smart phone with them while they shop, and it’s easy to see why you really want to be a part of the gold mine we casually call the internet. PS – please do not shoot the messenger…