Archive for July, 2010

Don’t Just Toss it in a Bag….. GRID-IT!!!

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

If you have ever taken your laptop with you on a trip, you’ve had this issue.  If you’ve ever taken more than one gadget (iPod, PSP, GameBoy, Camera) to work, you’ve been frustrated by this issue.  If you’ve ever used a laptop or messenger bag to transport your tech, you’ve fought this issue.  Carrying any kind of electronic device(s) means carrying the power cable and any/all other accessories with you wherever you go.  As soon as the second item hits your bag, things get complicated.

Cables tangle, screens get scratched and everything in your bag drops straight to the bottom.  This makes finding any one item next to impossible (without dumping the contents of the entire bag) and, most likely, it is going to shorten the life and look of your gadgets and devices.  For any tech/gadget nerd, this is just not acceptable and, if you are anything like me, you want to take care of the items that you paid so much for.  There is a bit of pride in owning an iPod that is 2-years old, but looks like you just bought it.  Throw-in the fact that “no scratches” and “like new” make great tag lines for any product you want to sell on eBay, and you’ve got yourself a good set of reasons for taking care of your gear.

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Now I Remember Why I NEVER Use Internet Explorer

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Do you feel trapped by your place of work?  Is the computer you use every day locked down tighter than the doors on a submarine?  Are Facebook and Twitter considered  “colorful metaphors” to the IT staff?  Well, there may be some relief and a way to get back to the social networking world you desire.  Firefox Add-Ons!

I recently went back to work, this time for a very large company with an IT staff dedicated to keeping things on total lock-down so we (the employees) can’t waste time or share corporate secrets via the internet or installed programs.  What this meant for me was a return to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as my one and only browser choice.  My first thought was “how bad could it be?”

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FollowFriday – Friday July 16, 2010 – PHOTOGRAPHS

Friday, July 16th, 2010
FollowFriday : On any given Friday, thousands upon thousands (maybe even millions) of Twitter users enter the hashtag #FollowFriday (or #FF), followed by one or more “mentions.” The idea is for users to share the names of other “interesting people” that they follow and think you should too. These recommendations serve as positive comment cards for the digitally inclined.


JumpstartMyPC.com has decided to bring FollowFriday to our blog. Read on and, if you are so inclined, add these “interesting people” to your own list.

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A Better Commute with Technology on the Park and Ride

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

The idea of telecommuting (working from home) has appealed to me for a long, long time.  Imagine working for a salary and never having to leave your house.  The time spent commuting, breaking for lunch and sitting in meetings could be transferred to a quick trip to the mailbox, a little time on the treadmill or simply a rerun of Seinfeld while you ate your sandwich.  For many, this is not an option, but what if you could find a happy medium between office and working from home?  For me, that new medium is the park and ride.

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Hurricane Preparedness – Scanning and Saving Important Documents – Part 3

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

If you’ve been following along with our series on Scanning and Saving Important Documents you’re ready for our third article (if not, jump to related articles at the bottom of this post).  In our last article, we covered the scanning and related software, leaving you with some image files and questions about what to do next.  Today, we’ll outline file naming, folder structures and storage.

As always, we have a couple of things to remind you about before jump into our project.  First, keep your document and files protected.  Second, this is your project.  Our articles are suggestions on how to handle this type of project, but you should definitely structure and organize your document scanning in a way that keeps things simple for you.  After all, if a project like this became too complicated or confusing, who would actually finish it?

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FollowFriday – Friday July 02, 2010 – HURRICANE TRACKING

Friday, July 2nd, 2010
FollowFriday : On any given Friday, thousands upon thousands (maybe even millions) of Twitter users enter the hashtag #FollowFriday (or #FF), followed by one or more “mentions.” The idea is for users to share the names of other “interesting people” that they follow and think you should too. These recommendations serve as positive comment cards for the digitally inclined.


JumpstartMyPC.com has decided to bring FollowFriday to our blog. Read on and, if you are so inclined, add these “interesting people” to your own list.

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Hurricane Preparedness – Scanning and Saving Important Documents – Part 2

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

In our last article (Hurricane Preparedness – Scanning and Saving Important Documents), we helped you you put together a list of your important documents and, with any luck, you have already located them.  Our next steps will be to scan these documents and save the files in a storage/filing method that meets your needs.  There are quite a few variables at this point (from hardware to learning curve) but the time and effort you put into this project will pay off in the event of a natural disaster, like a hurricane.

Before We Get Started: Once more, I would like to warn everyone that your personal documents should be protected at all costs.  This applies to the originals and the scanned images from here on out.  Identity theft is very real and very possible with the proper information.

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