10 Things Every Computer User Should Know

Computer Problems

I’m not a tech support specialist.  I don’t help people fix their computers for a living.  I do love technology and know enough to help my friends and family when they have technology issues.  Over the years of helping others to fix their computers, I’ve found that most problems could be easily avoided if the user would just follow some simple suggestions.  I know that there can be exceptions to every one of the following […]

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Long-time Samsung user’s first 2 months with a Pixel phone

Pixel

Let me start by saying that I’ve been a devout Samsung phone user since falling in love with the first one back in 2010.  In fact, my last 9 personal phones have been: Samsung Galaxy S Samsung Galaxy S II Samsung Galaxy S III Samsung Galaxy S 4 Samsung Galaxy S 5 Samsung Galaxy S 6 Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Samsung Galaxy S 7 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 I’ve had experience with many of the Nexus phones as well.  Each […]

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Android Wear 2.0 and the LG Watch Sport

After having 3 other watch wearables in the past few years, I decided to try the new LG Watch Sport with Google’s new Android Wear 2.0 operating system. With my other watches, my favorite feature was simply the notifications.  I love not having to get my phone out of my pocket to see who is calling or texting me.  That feature alone will keep me looking for the perfect watch. My new watch offers many […]

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Google found a place in my Home

Google Home

I’ve had an Amazon Echo (Alexa) in my house for quite a while.  One of “Alexa’s” biggest disappointments is her lack of knowledge.  Often, after hearing Alexa say “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question you asked.”, I found myself turning to Google on my phone for the answer. The Google Home is an Echo-like assistant for your home that has the knowledge base of Google behind it.  I can also control my IoT devices like […]

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Watering your lawn using Rachio Smart Sprinkers

Rachio

Upgrading my “dumb sprinkers” to Rachio’s smart spinklers was a great thing for me to do.  Here are the 4 reasons why: 1 – It’s Easy to Program It is so much easier to use a computer or smartphone to program the timers and/or control the sprinklers.  It’s fast, simple and I can do it from anywhere. 2 – It Knows More than I do The Rachio timer is connected to the internet so it knows when it is […]

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The Amazing Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo was quite a surprise when it was released in late 2014.  A smart speaker/virtual assistant that works with your voice.  Even though it’s a pretty cool device, it took a while to gain popularity.  This was partly because it wasn’t available to the general public for the first 6-months or so. I’ve grown to really love it.  The array of mics around the top of the Echo allows the device to know where […]

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WeMo Light Switch by Belkin

About 6 months ago, I installed WeMo light switches in my house.  These switches allow you to control your lights a number of new ways: Using your Smartphone Set to a Timer Using your Computer Using your Voice with help by the Amazon Echo or other service Old fashion way using your finger on the switch For the most part, they work great.  They connect to your home network through your Wifi connection. There are […]

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Can’t Twitter just be Twitter?

Some people get twitter.  Some people don’t.  Whether you use it or not, with over 300 million active users and over 350,000 tweets per minute, it is a social media powerhouse. For anybody who isn’t familiar, twitter is a social network where users can share short (140 character maximum) thoughts called tweets.  Users can follow and reply to other user’s tweets. The big problem that Twitter has is that it isn’t growing.  Investors like growth. […]

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Are We Witnessing the Birth of Google OS?

In response to recent articles and gossip, I’ve been asked the following question by concerned individuals: “Is Google getting rid of the Chromebook?” The answer is quite simply, Absolutely not.  This week, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that Google would fold the Chrome Operating System into Android.  This got everybody talking and wondering if this is the end for the Chromebook. Chrome OS is one of the most stable and secure operating […]

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What is a Chromebook?

When I first heard that Google was creating an operating system that was basically just a browser, I thought it was silly and nobody would buy one.  Looking back, I now think that it wasn’t a silly idea, it was a brilliant idea. A Chromebook is a laptop computer that runs an operating system called Chrome OS.  Unlike many of today’s laptops, a typical Chromebook has less memory (RAM) and very little hard drive space.  It doesn’t […]

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