Posts Tagged: ‘Hardware’

I’ve Joined the Darkside – Originally Published July 2012

July 31, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve gone to the dark side.  I didn’t think it would ever happen, but I’m using an android phone.  OMG!  It’s worse than I thought.  I even called it a phone instead of a pocket computer.

I’ve carried a pocket PC since I bought my first IPAQ in 2002.  I just loved being able to carry my files, e-mail and to-do list with me everywhere.  It was so easy to sync with Outlook on my other computers.

In April 2010, I finally retired my IPAQ2495 and bought a HTC Touch Pro 2.  I think the people at the Sprint store thought I was a little crazy.  I was comparing the HTC to my IPAQ.  They just couldn’t understand that I wasn’t buying a phone.  I was buying a new pocket PC that happened to also be a telephone.

After a couple of months, I enjoyed using the Touch Pro 2 so much that I even used it to write this column for the newsletter.  It was a tough machine.  I estimate that I dropped it at least twenty or thirty times (including a few on concrete).  I might have been in the minority, but I liked Windows Mobile 6.  It was a reliable operating system that synced easily with Outlook.  I like Outlook.  It’s one of the few programs that I’ve actually purchased.

My TP2 finally gave up the ghost.  Naturally, I looked at replacing it with a Windows 7 cell phone.  Sprint had exactly two choices.  I didn’t much like either one.  I considered changing carriers, but I’ve got a pretty good reason for sticking with Sprint.

My grandson recently got an iPhone.  I activated his old phone, a Samsung Epic 4G.  My theory is that I can save my upgrade discount for a future Windows phone.  I’m not unfamiliar with the Android operating system.  I’ve used it on my tablet for a year or so.  My only problem with having Android in my pocket is that there isn’t a native synchronization with Outlook on my computer.

I finally slipped a little further into the dark void.  I almost gave up and went completely dark.  I gave some serious thought to abandoning Outlook and using Android PIM programs.  Then I could even stop telling people that the only software that I’ve spent money for is Outlook.

In the end, I actually purchased some software.  I got frustrated having to jump through several hoops to synchronize the darn thing with my computers.  Once again, I can just click one icon and have all of my data synced.

I wonder what my mobile future will be like.  Windows is going to have to get a manufacturer to make one heck of a phone to get me back.  Then they’ve got to get Sprint on board to sell it.  Then they have to get me to buy it.  That’s a pretty tall order.  They might have to get Bill Gates to come out of retirement and take over the company again.

My IPAQ is still somewhere in the junk box.  I sure miss it.

Thanks for reading.

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Stupid Things I’ve Done – Originally Published March 2012

July 30, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.“  Could this mean that an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid?  Everyone has heard the stories of the computer user that used their disk player as a coffee cup holder.  Did you hear about the computer user that called tech support trying to figure out why their computer wasn’t working?  Turns out there was a power outage.  When you Google “stupid computer stories” you get about 6,660,000 hits.  No matter how you look at it, we’re talking about a lot of stupidity.

Lately, I think I might be the number one stupid computer user on the planet.  Recently, I had a problem with Microsoft Outlook.  None of my e-mails were being downloaded.  I thought it was probably a Suddenlink problem.  When I checked e-mail with a web browser program, my mail was on the server.  Outlook just wouldn’t download it to my computer.  With my typical “smart” thinking, I was sure I could solve the problem without calling tech support.  I searched the internet an found no answers.  After three days of frustration, I solved the problem by accident.  After a download with Outlook, there was once again no e-mail in my in box.  Then I accidentally clicked on my deleted items folder and there was my e-mail.  It turns out that I had created a new mail rule.  I mistakenly caused it to transfer all of my mail to the deleted folder.  I keep Outlook set to empty the deleted items folder whenever I exit the program.  For three days, I was downloading and deleting all of my e-mail.

Avast anti-virus recently recently released the Version 7 upgrade to their program.  Whenever I install software, I’m really careful about reading the EULA and carefully inspecting the install boxes.  Sure enough, the installer had an option to install Chrome and make it my default browser.  Of course, the boxes were checked.  No problem.  I’m “smart” and unchecked them before installing.  I’ve got several computers, so you can probably guess what I did on the third install.  When I rebooted the computer, I had a new default browser.

Oh yes, I’ll admit that I did it. I broke the number one stupidity rule.  I clicked on a link that I shouldn’t have.  Luckily, I have a good firewall and no harm was done.

Not too long ago, one of my DVD drives quit working for no reason at all.  It turns out that there was a reason.  When I installed a new hard drive, I unplugged the disc power cord to make it easier to reach the brackets.  I don’t know why I forgot to plug it back in.  Another easily solved stupid problem.

I’m going to keep looking at the bright side of computing.  At least I haven’t broken any ports by forcing the cables in upside down – yet.  I also haven’t deleted any important files – yet.  I haven’t spilled coffee on my keyboard – yet.

One last stupid thing I’ve done.  It’s not computer related, but if you ask me, I’ll tell you how my being “smart” at a local convenience store almost resulted in a fight.

Thanks for reading.

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Galaxy Note 2 Review – Originally Published January 2013

July 25, 2014 Posted by Tiny

From the Dark Side
by Tiny Ruisch

Way back in April of 2010, I wrote in this column about how I was finally giving up my IPAQ pocket computer (PPC) for a newfangled kind of PPC that happened to also make phone calls.  Now that I look back on what I’ve just written, I’m wondering if Hewlett-Packard could sue Apple for copyright infringement.  On third thought, I guess not.  Apple uses a lower case I.

Last June, I told you about how my trusty TP2 finally gave up the ghost.  Microsoft lost a customer due to their lousy updating of their mobile operating systems.  I changed to an Android phone that my grandson had quit using.  Three months later, I bought an android tablet.

In November, I finally used my upgrade and bought a Samsung Galaxy Note II.  This is by far the best pocket computer I have ever owned.  (I still can’t get myself to call it a telephone).

The Note II is a big machine.  It measures 5.949” x 3.17” x 0.37” and weighs 6.349 oz.  Some of the tech writers are calling this machine a “phablet” (from the two words phone and tablet).  For me it is a perfect size.  It fits in my pocket and the large screen is easy for my old eyes to read.  The screen resolution is 1280 x 720.

The processor is a Exynos 1.6GHz Quad-core and it is fast.  I haven’t experienced any screen lag.  The operating system is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is a joy to use.  Android has finally come into its own.  There is 16GB of internal memory and a slot for up to a 64GB micro SD card.  Powering it is a 3,100 mAh battery.  I have yet to get a message telling me the battery is getting low.  As a matter of routine, I’ve always bought a second battery for my pocket computers.  I haven’t had to use my stand-by battery with the Note II.

The camera resolution is 8.0 Megapixels.  The front facing camera is 1.9 Megapixels.  The camera features include Auto Focus, Best Face, Best Photo, Beauty, Buddy Photo Share, Burst Shot, Face Detection, HDR, Low Light, Panorama, Share Shot, Single Shot, Smile Shot and Geo-tagging.

One of my favorite features is the multitasking in split screen windows.  I can watch a movie in one window while I’m playing a game in the other window.  The possibilities are endless.  Messaging in one window, take pictures in the other.  Map in one window, take notes in the other.  This is an awesome feature.

Of course, all of the standard features are included: WI-FI, Bluetooth, GPS, Messaging, Web Browsing, Social Networking, etc.  Also included are some new apps designed specially for the fancy stylus, named the S-Pen.  The stylus is touch sensitive.  The harder you press on the screen, the darker the line.  It also works without touching the screen at all.  One of the cool features is when you pull the S-Pen out of its holder, all of the apps automatically load.  Reinsert the S-Pen and they close.  You won’t easily lose your stylus, because the machine will sound an alarm if you walk away without it.

There are a couple of things that I don’t like about the machine.  There is only one button on the front.  Pressing it opens the home screen.  Long pressing brings up the recently used apps screen.  Double pressing the button opens Samsung’s S-Voice app, which I don’t use.  Maybe future hackers will make some useful applications for the button.

The power button is on the upper right side of the computer, which is an an awkward position for me.  I often accidentally bump the volume control when I’m turning the machine on or off.  I wish they had put it on the top of the device.

Lastly is a pain in the whatchamacallit when using the camera.  You cannot turn the sound off.  This doesn’t bother me anymore though.  I’ve rooted my phone and have a quiet camera now.

If you’re in the market for a new phone and you want a large screen, a smooth operating system and superb battery life, I recommend you test drive the Samsung Galaxy Note 2.  It’s an excellent pocket computer that happens to also make telephone calls.

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Selling Points – Originally Published October 2011

July 23, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing the magazine shelves at Books A Million.  The latest issue of Maximum PC had one of those silly cover article teasers.  In large letters was the single word “SHOWDOWN”.  Underneath the headline, in slightly smaller block letters, was the teaser: “WE NAME THE BEST PHONES IN SEVEN CRITICAL AREAS”.  The seven critical areas were then listed:
1. Display Quality,
2. Photos and Video,
3. Chassis Design,
4. Gaming,
5. Battery,
6. Keyboard, and
7. Raw Performance.

Does anything about that list of critical cell phone areas seem strange to you?  Don’t you think that one of the critical areas of a telephone should be call quality?

Of course, that got me to thinking about how we seem to focus on less important things.  Of course, we call almost always refer to them as “critical areas”.  Ask anybody how big the hard drive in their computer is and they will probably know the answer.  Then ask them how many RPMs the disk makes, or what the seek time is, or what the data transfer rate is and you’ll likely get a blank stare.  I’d venture to guess that many salesmen in the store wouldn’t know either, but you can bet they’ll focus on the drive size.

Those same salesman will help you buy a monitor.  I guarantee they’ll focus on how big the screen is while neglecting to tell you about important things like resolution, viewing angle, response time, etc.  Although those are all “critical areas”, don’t you think the view is probably what you should focus on?

Don’t get me started on cameras.  Lots of megapixels are important, but they don’t mean you’re going to get a better picture.  Sensor size, start up time, shutter lag, image stabilization are all important.  It’s the picture quality that is important, not the cameras “critical areas”.

I think this mentality has spilled over into other facets of life.  Our politicians tell us all about the “critical areas” of government that they are going to fix.  I’d just like them to fix the important stuff.  Oops, I forgot, the only important thing to them is getting reelected.

I could probably go on for a couple of pages complaining about “critical areas” that don’t really mean much, but I’ve done enough ranting and raving for one article.  By the way, it doesn’t make much difference to me what the call quality of my phone is.  I hardly ever answer the darn thing anyway.

Thanks for reading.

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Gadgets I Can Do Without – Originally Published June 2011

July 19, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Back in the last century, I had a nifty little electronic gadget on my keyring.  It did only one thing.  If you pushed the button, it would indicate if there was a wireless network in range.  Back then, most networks were not secure and it was easy to get online.

Electronic gadgets have come a long way since then.  Many people have there own favorite gadget, everything from a remote control to a robot that vacuums the floor.  Even the military has gadgets they use to blow up things.  In my opinion, many of them are useless.  There are many new technologies others have that I just don’t care about.

By now I bet you’ve figured out that this article is going to be about some high-tech devices that I can live without.  The cell phone might be one of the most annoying gadgets ever.  I got my first cell phone about five years ago.  When I first moved to Louisiana, my daughter put the wife and me on her family plan and gave us both a phone.  Even people that can’t live without a cell phone would have to admit that they are often annoying beyond human endurance. The photos and movies they take can lead to all kinds of problems.  They can be awful scary.  When driving, you have to watch out for the cell phone packing motorist.  When carrying one, you have to worry about being tracked.  When using one, you have to worry about the controversial possibility that the thing is slowly cooking your brain.  There isn’t a whole lot of privacy any more.  Don’t you just love it when you’re sitting in a movie and someones cell phone rings?  After all of the ranting, I have to tell you that I’ve put myself in a position where I can’t live without the darn thing.  I’ve carried a pocket PC for years.  Everyone says they have a cell phone.  I tell people that I have a pocket PC with phone capabilities.  If an incoming call is not in my contacts list, it goes straight to my voice mail.  I don’t need to sign up for the National No Call Registry.  If I don’t know who is calling, I just don’t answer the darn thing.

The miniature keyboard is something I can do without.  One of the attractions of my pocket PC (cell phone) was the great keyboard.  I even wrote an article for the club newsletter on the thing.  Since then, I have hardly pulled it out.  Usually, it is just not worth the effort.  A while back, I received an e-mail that closed, “Sent from my mobile phone.  Please excuse any typos.”  As Colonel Potter often said on MASH, “Horse hockey!”.  (Once he changed it to “Cow cookies”).  I’m sorry, but I am not buying in to the notion that I should forgive poor grammar, bad spelling, or indecipherable texting because the sender is using a device with a lousy keyboard.

I think the Web cam is one of the dumbest inventions ever.  Why in the world would I or anyone else want to show the world how they look in the morning?  Why should I have to put on a shirt before sitting down to my computer?  Why should I have to feel that big brother is constantly peering over my shoulder?  You can turn the darned things off, but are you sure that electronic eyeball staring you in the face is really off?

You don’t see electronic pagers much anymore.  The last time I saw one, I was at a local restaurant.  They paged you when it was your turn to give them some of your money.  Talk about making you feel important. “Dr. Tiny, we have your table prepared with some surgical instruments.  Please come to the check in counter.  We’re finished testing your patience level.  Remember to bring your useless gadget.”

Speaking of useless gadgets, how effective can a battery powered robot that automatically vacuums the floor be?  Can that Roomba do a good job as small as it is?  Maybe if you got one of those robot doggies, you could use your Roomba as a robot doggie pooper scooper.

I’m still undecided whether or not I like dedicated e-readers.  My Archos tablet has e-book software that works pretty good for me.  The advantages that I miss out on are being able to read in bright sunlight and a much longer battery life.  Since I am seldom out of the shade for very long and I’ve got plenty of electric outlets, I’m not too worried.  I don’t have a dedicated e-reader, but I can not only read a book, but write one, listen to the radio and play a game or two.

I quit smoking a few years ago.  Lately, I’ve seen advertisements for an electronic cigarette. I’m pretty sure that’s another gadget that will end up in the junk drawer next to the key chain camera, the electric knife and the clapper.

I’ve got to go now. I’ve been busy searching the internet for a new gadget.  I’ve been looking for a Swiss Army Knife with USB capabilities.  I hope I can find one that is upgradeable.

Thanks for reading.

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OCZ Technology Equalizer Laser Mouse – Originally Published September 2010

July 3, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

Last June, I talked about using keyboard shortcuts to make your computer navigation easier.  I mentioned that in the early years of computing, I wouldn’t buy a computer mouse because I thought that they were useless technology that just wasted your time.  After all, you had to remove one of your hands from the keyboard to use it.

My thoughts have definitely changed over the years.  I don’t just use any mouse though.  I spend a little extra money and buy multi-button programmable mouses.  I like any technology that makes my computing easier.

The mouse I am using these days is an OCZ Technology Equalizer Laser mouse.  To be honest, I never heard of the company before I bought the mouse, but Newegg had a close out sale of $9.99 with free shipping, so I took a chance and bought one.  I figured that if I didn’t like it, I could always make it into a computer club Christmas present.  Turns out I really like it and went back to order another one, but they were sold out.  Imagine my surprise when a week or so later, the UPS driver brought me another mouse.  It seems that Newegg had a computer glitch and filled my order twice.  I contacted them and offered to pay for the extra mouse, but they told me to keep it with their compliments.  As much as I hated to, I accepted their offer and ended up with two mouses for $5.00 each.  Although they are no longer manufactured, they retailed for about $40.00 apiece.

My mouse has seven buttons, four of which are programmable.  The Keys that can’t be changed are the left click, a key that changes the mouses DPI.  After the first day, I haven’t pushed that key.  I don’t play too many games, so I have no need to change the DPI.  There is another small key that is next to the left click key.  In gaming mode, the small key is a continuous fire key.  In regular mode, it is a double click key, which is extremely handy.

Like many other programmable mouses I’ve owned in the past, this mouse uses A4 tech programming.  One of the programming features is the “Lucky Jump” and the “Net Jump”.  These are functions that let you list programs and start them with one click.  This is a lot easier than minimizing all your windows and double clicking an icon on your desktop.  It is also easier than searching through you start menu.  Like most programmable mouses, I can record macros and assign them to a key.  It is so nice to push one key when I enter a poker parlor and say “Hello everyone!  Good luck to all.”  I’ve saved me a lot of typing over the years.  I also use a programmable keyboard on my desktop computer.  It’s a Microsoft DMC 3000 that I bought for $10.00.  I’ve always been a cheapskate.  It’s my Dutch heritage.

Over the years, I’ve literally saved millions of keystrokes.  For instance, I create a lot of shortcuts.  The normal method is to take your hand off of the keyboard, right click the mouse button, move the arrow to new, then move the arrow to the right and left click shortcut.  My easier and much faster method is to keep both hands on the keyboard, move my pinky finger over and push the button I’ve programmed to create a shortcut.

I’m lazy.  I like pushing a key to check my e-mail, another key to shift to my web browser, another to start Facebook, etc.  I’m sure you’d enjoy using programmable equipment too.

My next goal in computing is to study and finally master AutoHotKey, a free, open-source utility for Windows.  With it you can create hotkeys for the keyboard, joystick and mouse.  Then you can automate almost anything by using scripts to send keystrokes and mouse clicks.  I should be able to get even lazier.

Thanks for reading.

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Computing Memories – Originally Published August 2010

July 1, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

This months computer club meeting topic of the Smart Table got me to thinking about how much technology has changed in my time.  One of my first computer memories was when I was still in high school and UNIVAC was in all the news.  No one really had any idea what the thing was good for.  The census used one to somehow make counting the population easier.  It was a different world back then and nobody really much cared about a machine that was bigger than the family car and needed a special air conditioned room.  The thing that really interested them was the Texas Instruments pocket calculator.  My daddy was a feed salesman and the company that he worked for provided him with one of these expensive machines.  I remember him getting it out to show us how he could add 2 and 2 without making a mistake.

When I joined the Navy, I had my first experiences with using a computer.  I got to run the keypunch machine.  If I made a mistake, a ship could easily get 10,000 pounds of butter instead of 1,000.  Back then, the Navy paid in cash.  In later years, our paychecks were actually an IBM computer punch card.  Now, many employers don’t even issue checks.  It’s all done electronically.

In the late 1970’s computers started to catch on.  IBM was the company created the home market.  Their 8086/8088 weighed about 30 pounds and had a whole MB of random access memory.  It blazed along at a speedy 4.77 MHz.  Other companies that built computers soon started advertising themselves as IBM compatible.  If you worked for IBM, you were required to wear a tie.

This is also the era when many of us started building our first computers.  Zenith Heath Kits were all the rage.  They didn’t work any better, but we were smarter because we built our own.

The operating system of choice in those days was PC-DOS.  There were many other ones, but the home market was mainly CP/M or one of the DOS systems from Apple, Atari or Commodore.  In the early 1980’s, a fellow you may have heard of bought an operating system called 86-DOS which was also known as Q-DOS (for Quick and Dirty DOS).  Bill Gates later renamed it to MS-DOS for the company that he founded.  I’m pretty sure that Microsoft is still in business today.

Home computing started to really take off in the 80’s when Radio Shack introduced the Trash 80 (oops. I meant TRS 80).  Apples home computer was the Lisa and Texas Instruments had something called the TI-99.  I remember the first computer I bought.  It was a Commodore VIC20.  I loved that computer with its 5 KB of RAM and the data cassette storage, even though it often took 3-4 minutes to load a program.  Incidentally, the VIC20 was the first home computer that sold a million units.  In later years the Commodore 64 was even better.

The first really innovative computer program to be sold was the spreadsheet VisiCalc.  Like so many other successful things, clones like Lotus 1-2-3, SuperCalc and Microsoft Excel were soon on the market.  Did you know that Microsoft’s Excel was first introduced for the Apple Macintosh?  It was only later that it was ported to Windows.  Wordstar was the first commercially profitable word processor.

The real software revolution were the games.  I don’t think you could walk 50 feet without seeing somebody playing Space Invaders, PAC Man of one of the many variations of Pong.  I’ll confess that my favorite games were made by Infocom.  They specialized in “interactive fiction” games.  I still remember their advertising slogan, “We put our graphics where the Sun don’t shine.”  Graphics adapters later put this type of adventure game out of business.  Their first game was Zork which debuted in 1980.  I still have it on my desktop computer.

In the old days, the only decision to be made when you bought a monitor was whether to have green or amber output.  The only sound you could hear was the tinny beep for the operating speaker.  The only mouse in the computer room lived in the wall.  Printers were all dot matrix and printed about 30 characters a minute.

Of course, one of the biggest changes in computing has been the internet and use of e-mail.  I’ve heard that e-mail was invented by a Nigerian that had a lot of extra money to spend. The browser choices were Mosaic or Netscape.  We’ve come a long way from logging in to the Bulletin Board.

I’m going to shut up for this month.  Please remember that I’ve just written about some of my computing memories, so the facts may not be 100 percent correct.  I’m just amazed at how far technology has advanced.

See you at the Smart Table.  Thanks for reading.

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My New Technology – Originally Published April 2010

June 30, 2014 Posted by Tiny

My New Technology
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve finally replaced my old IPAQ pocket computer. It was four years old and getting to be outdated technology.  Not only was it getting old, three of the buttons had quit working and the rest were very erratic.  During the course of a typical day, I usually had to reboot it three or four times.  I’ve carried a pocket PC for many years (it was my third IPAQ).

A few months ago, when I mentioned to Stuart that I was going to buy a new IPAQ, he suggested that I buy a smart phone.  I told him that I wasn’t interested in smart phones because I liked Windows Mobile and the ease of syncing with Outlook on my home computers.  He showed me his HTC Mogul phone and I liked what I saw.  I did a little research and ended up buying a HTC Touch Pro 2 (TP2).

The people at the Sprint Phone Store seemed to think I was a little nuts when I explained that I wasn’t buying a phone, but was replacing a pocket computer that happened to have cell phone capabilities.  The TP2 is loaded with a 3.6 inch touch sensitive screen, a slide out keyboard, GPS, Bluetooth, wireless WI-FI and a 1500 mAh battery.  This machine boasts 512 MB of ROM and 288 MB of RAM.  The expansion slot will accept up to a 16 GB MicroSD card.

One of the features that I really like is the speakerphone.  There are two speakers on this machine.  You can set it on a table and easily talk up to ten feet away.  That is really useful to someone who mostly only makes family calls where everyone talks at the same time.

The camera and video camera are adequate, but not great.  What is great is the output.  With a cheap video cable, you can hook the phone up and view on your television or computer monitor.  Last month at the SIG meeting, I hooked up to Woody’s 62 inch TV.  Everyone agreed that the picture was decent and the processor adequate for watching videos.

The TP2 has a slide out QWERTY keyboard.  The keys are slightly bigger than most phones and are offset to resemble a typewriter.  The screen tilts which makes the keyboard much easier to use.  Almost everyone that I’ve showed the machine to has told me that they wish their phone had this keyboard.

I’m included on my daughter’s Sprint plan.  She subscribes to everything they got.  I can use my new Pocket PC for web surfing, email, GPS, TV, music, Sprint radio, voicemail and messaging.  Many of these features I’ll probably never use, but I have tuned in to Handy Manny on Sprint TV and handed the phone to my grandson.  Worked fine.

I won’t bore you with a list of all the software applications installed on the TP2.  I use the Windows Mobil Media Player every day while I’m on my morning walk.  Eleven audio and seven video formats are supported.

I use Excel and Word Mobile all of the time.  I can reach in my pocket and tell you how many miles I walked last year.  When I’m at the doctors office, his questions are usually easy to answer because I’ve got most of my medical data on my pocket PC.  Reviewing past blood glucose is helpful in maintaining my blood sugar levels.  Its nice to have the history in my pocket every day.

I’ve been experimenting with voice recognition and have downloaded a few utility programs.  Everything I’ve tried on my home network seems to be working OK.  Many things (like printing) is usually easier done from either my desktop or laptop.  I’ve got my machine set to automatically synchronize every time I connect.

I should take a minute to tell you how hard I am on my telephones.  I usually carry them in my shirt pocket and I often forget to remember to hold on to them when I bend over.  I’ve accidentally dropped two of them in the toilet.  So far, I’ve managed to drop my TP2 three times.  The worst incident was when I was walking.  I took the machine out of my pocket.  When I put it back, I missed the pocket and dropped it on the concrete roadbed.  I’m happy to report that you can’t tell that I’ve dropped my pocket computer.

There are a few things I dislike about the TP2, most of them inconsequential and easily fixed.  The system calculator is lousy.  It has a copy function, but no paste.  I wish the screen was a little bigger.  The solitaire program is still pretty hard to beat.

I’d guess that you can see I’m pretty impressed with the capabilities and quality of the TP2.  It’s a great pocket computer with a pretty decent telephone attached to it.  Just ask when you see me and I’ll be glad to demonstrate it for you.  I‘ll even show you how I wrote this article on my pocket pc.

Thanks for reading.

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Technological New Year Resolutions – Originally Published January 2010

June 23, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I’ve been writing this monthly column for almost a year now.  One of the things I’ve learned is that it is usually pretty hard to decide what topic to write on each month.  January is almost a gimmee topic.  Technological New Year’s Resolutions that I’ll try to keep.

This year I’m going to try to be better at doing my data backups.  I’ve got a backup schedule, but sometimes put it off to do other things.  I know it’s not wise to do that, but sometimes I accidentally eat a stupid pill.

This year I’m going to try harder to write a monthly column for the newsletter and actually submit it in a timely manner . I know that waiting until the last minute just makes it harder for the editor to complete the monthly bulletin.

This year, I’m going to finally organize all of my pictures and picture albums.  I’ve got photo albums in three places on the internet.  I’ve got pictures stored on four different hard drives.  I can probably delete a few thousand pictures and still have plenty left.  Do I really need more than one picture of the same scene?

This year, I’m going to devote more time to my other hobbies.  I haven’t had my telescope pointed at the sky in a long time.  My model railroad has been gathering dust for a month or so.  Oh well, at least I haven’t missed any SWLACUG meetings.

This year, I’m going to update my website more often.  I think I’ll steal some of Tom’s ideas and add some technical columns.  I could at least copy my Whatchamacallit articles.

This year I’m going to quit downloading and installing software that I’ll probably never use.  Do I really need another digital photo editor?  Will a different media player make my mp3’s sound better?  How many file cleaners do I really need ? Then of course, there are the games I’ve downloaded, played once and forgot about.

This year, I’m going to frequently remind all club members to help make our club a little better.  It doesn’t take much to do.  Just share your experiences with the software or hardware you use.  You’d be surprised at what you know that someone else doesn’t.  Some of my favorite web sites were recommended to me by someone else.  I didn’t sign on to Facebook until it was a meeting topic.  Now I spend quite a bit of time using the service.  Why don’t you write a one paragraph article letting everyone know how great or lousy the flash drive you just bought is?  Why not post a note on the club forum when you’ve found an interesting sale.  Maybe the most important contribution you could make is letting the club know what topics you would like to hear about at the monthly meeting.  Why not make a suggestion on what you’d like to see articles about in the newsletter?

On a different subject, I’d like to take a paragraph and say how much I enjoyed the 2009 club Christmas meeting.  I thought the gifts were all pretty good and I am getting a lot of use out of mine.  As always, the food was delicious and the company was better.

That’s all for this month.  Thanks for reading.

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Things I Hate About Computing – Originally Published October 2009

June 23, 2014 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

This month I’m going to rant, criticize and complain just a little.  The other day, my wife and I were in one of the home improvement stores and I thought that it would be a good time to pick up a new water filter for our refrigerator.  I went over to appliances and told them I needed a new filter for a Whirlpool.  He immediately asked me which of the nine filters I needed.  Of course I had forgotten to memorize the filter number so I found our refrigerator on the sales floor and told the salesman, “One to fit that model.”  Naturally, it was the wrong size filter.  When I went back to exchange it, I found out that a different model year takes a different filter.  What does all that have to do with computers and electronics?

It got me to thinking about some of the things I really hate about computing.  I’ve probably got 30 or 40 different USB cables in my junk box in the closet.  Every time you buy something that is USB supported, you get another cable.  Why is this?  It’s because each manufacturer has their own proprietary plug.  They have to include a cable because none of my other 30 cables will fit the darn thing.  I recently got a new cell phone.  Same manufacturer, different model.  You guessed it.  I’ve got another USB cable in my collection.  Wouldn’t it be nice if everything had a standard plug and didn’t have the cable included?  Think of the money that could be saved.  Wait a minute!  Then they couldn’t sucker people into paying $20 for 3 dollars worth of wire.

Another thing about electronics that makes me made are the End User License Agreements (EULA).  I’m one of those persons that read them pretty carefully before installing anything on my computer.  My complaint isn’t the fact that they are written by lawyers.  I can use the internet to identify the legal terms.  I have yet to find a EULA that can be read full screen.  Instead they write them in a little window that usually covers about a tenth of my screen.  I really think this is done to discourage people from reading the agreements.  Just get them to click “I agree” and get it over with.  I wonder how many people downloaded Google Chrome before the EULA was changed?  Do you suppose Google changed their EULA because someone finally read the EULA and told others what it said?

I can live with SPAM (I usually don’t even see it) and I don’t mind being bombarded with internet advertisements (I can always go to other sites).  I really hate it when websites pop up a window asking for information that they will probably never use.  For instance, the Des Moines Register wants to know my age, sex and country.  They then store the data in a cookie on my computer.  When I tell them that I‘m 22 year old female, I get the same advertisements as the dirty old men get.  Why waste my time?

My last big frustration is forwarded e-mails, which I usually just delete.  Should I really have to click page down 2 or 3 times to read the cute story or learn about the latest internet scare?  Besides, I think it would be a good thing if the government made business e-mails pay a 10 cent tax.  I bet we’d all get a lot less Viagra offers.

That’s enough ranting and complaining.  Next month I’ll write something useful for the newsletter.  By the way, did I mention that the two water filters had two different prices?  Does that remind you of anything computer related?

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