Archive for April, 2010
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Computers have become a major part of our daily routine in the U.S. From the buzz of our alarm clock to the sleep timer on our television, we come in contact with dozens, maybe even hundreds, of electronic products every day. Cell phones, laptops, keyboards, mice, printers, telephones, VCRs, DVD players, game consoles, etc. There seems to be no end to the list. Many of us buy the new model as it comes out or simply replace our broken devices as needed. What then? What do we do with the old one?
Disposing of old and obsolete electronic products (at least the ones that didn’t sell on eBay or that garage sale you had) is a serious, often over-looked, issue in the U.S. and the problem is growing exponentially. Our country throws out about 400 million units per year and worldwide, about 4,000 tons of “e-waste” is discarded every hour. Many of these devices contain toxic, harmful chemicals and materials that can cause major damage to our environment. So the question is “how can I properly discard my old electronics legally and easily?”
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Tags: abc-13, cell phone, computers, deductible, deduction, devices, e-waste, earth day, electronic, Hard Drive, Houston, iPod, itemize, items, phone, recycle, tax, taxes, Texas
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Passwords are a necessary evil that we cannot escape and, as we have pointed out again and again, you are responsible for creating and remembering/storing all of the passwords you use. As recently as March 31, in the article Online Security Begins or Ends With Your Choice of Password, we provided readers with some frightening data about “consumer password worst practices” and explained the idea of strong passwords. In that post, and several others before it, we provided some tips on creating strong passwords, but only skimmed the surface of possibilities.
Today, sparked by a recent article on Lifehacker.com, I will share with you a list of methods that you can use to create strong passwords. These methods are taken from sites all over the web and are merely suggestions on how you can protect yourself from crimes like identity theft. Before you jump down to the list, remember that EVERY password you use should follow these rules:
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Tags: complex, different, identity theft, Lifehacker.com, Password, secure, Security, strong
Posted in Security, Tips and Tricks | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
Back in September, I wrote an article titled Where to turn when your DVR can’t keep up. At the time, I was truly excited about the opportunities presented to all of us that might want to use the web as a supplemental resource for our digital video recorders (DVR). Seven months have now flown by and we find ourselves nearing the end of the “traditional” TV season. Lost only has 5 episodes left and the discussions on which shows will be returning next season are already underway or completed. These last few weeks will be a bitter-sweet time for fans of any program as we approach the inevitable cliffhangers and finales. Unfortunately, some of our recommendations in the September article were simply bitter.
We are a 2-DVR family and both of our units were put through some serious stress-testing this season. Every so often, bad weather or a power outage caused one or both of our DVR units to miss a show, or at least a portion of it. Being the true television fans that we are, we didn’t want to miss out on important plot-lines and details, so we headed out to the world wide web, in search of the episode in question. In almost every situation, we found the solution on the web site of the television station itself. There were however a few situations that required additional searching. That’s where the fun really started.
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Tags: Amazon.com, Big Bang Theory, CBS, episode, episodes, Google, HD, iTunes, Online, playstation store, programming, PS3, SD, shows, Smallville, Television, the Mentalist, TV
Posted in Online Shopping, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 12th, 2010
It’s a shocking title for an article, but several studies performed over the last decade prove it is possible. Our computers are a big part of our lives at work and home and we (JumpstartMyPC.com) have spent countless hours preaching about the importance of “maintenance,” but always from the digital side of things. The physical components of our computers (internal and external) also need some TLC and, as it turns out, we should get started yesterday.
“Keyboards were swabbed and those swabs sent off for analysis by a microbiologist. Frighteningly, several keyboards were highly contaminated, and at least one was removed on the scientist’s advice as it harbored four times the amount of harmful bacteria compared to a toilet seat, used as a reference point.” This quote, taken from the article Study: keyboards make excellent homes for nasty bacteria is a sobering “call to arms” for PC users everywhere. We spend countless hours on our computers and the majority of that time is spent “communicating” with our PC via the keyboard and mouse. Ironically, these user input devices are often the last to receive any maintenance or cleaning.
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Tags: canned air, Clean, cleaning, dust, external, internal, keyboard, mice, mouse, PC, Peripherals, sanitize
Posted in Tips and Tricks | 7 Comments »
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
Regular PC maintenance is as important as routinely changing the fluids in your car. Without this regular upkeep, your computer can become a slow, draggy, unusable box that has you thinking about a trip to your local electronics retailer.
In the rest of today’s article, we’ve posted links to the tools you need and a simple “5-Point Maintenance Plan” that you can follow to keep your PC running like new (or better). The average user can perform these tasks in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size (hard drive) and speed (RAM and processor) of the computer.
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Tags: april, computer, FREE, Maintenance, PC, programs, tools, upkeep
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
An increasing trend in malware is the “fake anti-virus” program. There are hundreds of names for these programs, but the story is always the same. You are essentially locked out of your computer by a program that promises to help you remove….. itself. Unsuspecting PC users are forced to fork over $50 or more to simply regain control of their computer.
Possibly the most frustrating part of these malware programs is that there are tools out there to help you remove them IF you could gain enough control of your PC to install and run them. Unfortunately, you have no control. Whether you are tricked by one of these “fake anti-virus programs” or your real anti-virus program simply lets one get by, you are going to need some help. Luckily, the folks at Avast have developed a FREE Rescue CD that can be used to scan your system and remove these pesky programs with ease. (more…)
Tags: antispyware, Antivirus, AVG, CD, Malware, PC, rescue, USB, Vista, Windows, XP
Posted in Free Programs, Security, Viruses | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
This article was originally posted in September of 2009. We have seen a recent rise in the scenario listed below and bring you this recap as a simple reminder. Enjoy!
You know the saying “your body is a temple.” Most of us are familiar with it and we at least “try” to eat things that are good for us and exercise with some regularity. Hey, our intentions are good and we are really going to get serious about this starting on Monday. That saying can really be applied to our computers as well. Pay close attention to what you put in (programs, data, hardware) and maintain your PC regularly (defrags, malware and spyware checks,etc.) and your PC will last longer and perform better.
Did you know that there are forces working against you and your goal to take care of your computer? Of course we are all familiar with the fact that viruses, malware and spyware exist, but there are other dangers stalking us from the shadows. I’m going to call them “tagalongs.” Tagalongs are programs that get installed on your computer with/without your permission. I used “with/without” because these applications get on your PC by tricking you. That’s right, it has probably happened to you before and you didn’t even know it.
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Tags: application, install, Software, Tagalong, toolbar, Trickery, Update
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 5th, 2010
The article posted below is the latest (originally posted 2/17/10) in a long line of articles about one of our very favorite utilities/programs called Dropbox. The blog post itself should have been enough to convince any PC user to begin integrating Dropbox into their daily routine, but the owners of this already well-known company have gone and “sweetened the pot.” Recent changes (shown throughout the article) have made Dropbox even more accessible and attractive. Read on and enjoy!
JumpstartMyPC.com was started to help PC users get the most out of their computer and no product exemplifies this idea like Dropbox! Dropbox is a file-syncing, file sharing, online backup tool that you can access from just about anywhere and you can start using it for FREE! I have written about this product many times, shared it with clients, friends and family and I use it myself, every single day. If you aren’t using it yet, you are in for a real treat. If you are using it, read on to find out what’s new and how you can now access your files without even using a computer.
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Tags: Android, cloud, drive, Dropbox, file share, file sync, flash, FREE, iPhone, Online, program, Storage
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | 2 Comments »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
We interrupt this regularly scheduled FollowFriday to bring you some very important news about the Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate Program. A few things have changed, including the date for reserving rebates and some valuable new information has been added to the Official State of Texas Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program Web site. For those of you who are familiar with the program and/or have been following our articles on the topic, you can jump on down to the Changes section. For the rest of you, we have a quick recap.
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Tags: appliance, april, cash-for-clunkers, efficiency, energy, rebate, Smart, Texas, trade up, U.S.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
