Posts Tagged: ‘Services’

Zoom Workshops (2021-03)

July 24, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Like most people, I can’t say a lot of good things about 2020.  It was a tough year.  Because many of us are getting a little older, we were stuck at home for much of the time.  There were some benefits.  People got a chance to catch up on reading or binge watching favorite television shows.  It was also nice to not have to buy a lot of gasoline for your car.

There is one one other benefit of being stuck at home.  I am surprised that more of our club members haven’t taken advantage of it.  I’m talking about the many Zoom workshops that are offered on‑line.

Every month our club offers between 20 and 30 of them.  The subjects are varied and informative.  If you have something in particular you’d like to talk about, the facilitators are almost always amendable to doing so.  Unfortunately, the attendance is usually pretty low.

I usually sign up for all the workshops that I can.  I’ve found that repeating them often discloses a little tidbit of information that I either didn’t know or forgot about.  The discussions among the attendees are also helpful.

Many times I’ve learned about programs, websites, computing techniques that I didn’t know about.  I usually keep a notes program open to write myself reminders to check new things.

If that isn’t enough content, the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG) provides even more workshops.  Some examples of recent topics are Drones, Printer Buying Tips, Windows Tips, Using CCleaner, Modems, Routers, and Wi-Fi.  These workshops and many more cost the same as our club offerings.  They are FREE for all paid club members.  Pat forwards the links to register.

So why aren’t members utilizing these free services?  I don’t know the answer, but I can speculate and offer some responses.
• Zoom is too hard to use – more than 300 million daily Zoom users might disagree.  The program is available for nearly every device and operating system.  There are thousands of tutorials to help you.
• I don’t have a web camera – you don’t need one.  At most of the meetings I’ve attended, at least half the cameras are usually off.
• I don’t want to sign up for a Zoom account – you only need an account if you’re going to host a meeting.  To attend a workshop, all you need is the logon information for the meeting.
• My computer/internet isn’t fast enough – I’m not going to list them all but I’ll just say that system requirements are pretty minimal.  They still support Windows 7.

What are you waiting for?  Why not make the best of being stuck at home for the pandemic?  Sign up now for a workshop.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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Cutting the Cable and Streaming (2019-05)

July 11, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Last month at the monthly meeting, I demonstrated the Roku Ultra, one of many streaming media players that can be purchased.  A streaming media player is simply a device that is programmed to stream video, audio, pictures and other media over the internet to your TV.  A simple search on Amazon shows that there are many options for buying a device.

Most of the questions were not about the Roku, but instead about the services that you can stream.  Many attendees wanted to know “how much does streaming cost?” or “will I be able to watch a specific channel?”

Unfortunately, my answer to most of those types of questions was, “I don’t know.”

The truth is that the answer would be different for each person.  It is kind of like somebody that says they are buying a car and asks how much it will cost them to operate it.  There are many variables: the cost of gasoline, how many miles they drive, how often they take a trip, etc.

The same can be said about cutting the cable and streaming.  There are various streaming services, each with their own pricing structure.  To make things harder to choose, most of them have different pricing plans.  For instance, Netflix has three different plans, ranging from $8.99 to $15.99 a month.  Hulu has four plans from $5.99 to $50.99 a month.

With the thousands of streaming channels you can watch, how do you choose?  If you do an internet search, you will find hundreds of sites that will give you tips on how to stop cable service and stream your shows.  Most of them recommend that before you do anything, either keep a journal or make a list of what you actually watch on TV.

After you have determined what you want to watch, it is time to do some research on where you can stream shows that you want to watch.  This might be the hardest part of the process as there are so many services to choose from.  If you max out on different services, you may not end up saving any money at all.

Local channels and news can usually be watched with the use of an antenna.  You can also often stream the shows from the network’s website.  Many of the stations stream their news reports online via their website or a mobile app.  Some aggregator services such as Sling also include this programming.

I am not a big sports fan, but I can tell you that watching the various types is a whole different problem.  Usually, you will have to pay monthly fees for each sport/team.  Even then, you sometimes do not get all the games due to local blackouts.  You might have to use a Virtual Private Network to trick them.

One final thing you need to consider when streaming is your internet speed.  Most sites recommend a download speed of 15-25 megabytes per second.  Keep in mind that this is in addition to all the other internet devices you may be using.  Faster internet service almost always comes at an increased cost.

So should you quit your cable television and stream everything?  I am by no means an expert, but like a lot of other topics, I have an opinion.  My TV viewing habits are different than most. I like mostly older movies and television shows.  Most of these I can watch on free streaming channels that I watch on my ROKU streaming device.  I still subscribe to basic cable for some channels that my wife likes.  Do your research and compute your costs.  Then do what works for you.

Keep on clicking and thanks for reading.

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Relying on Google (2022-05)

May 26, 2022 Posted by Tiny

Thoughts From a Clicker
By Tiny Ruisch

Like many other users, I have several Google e‑mail accounts.  Like my hundred or so other e‑mail addresses, I use them for specific reasons.  Other than receipts from the Play Store, I estimate that I receive about four important communications each week.  Much of the mail I get is sent from me for testing or archiving.

I’ve used Android phones since November 2012.  Although I have side loaded a few applications, I almost exclusively use the Play Store.  I occasionally use Google Search when Bing or Duck Duck Go doesn’t give me satisfactory results.  I have the Chrome browser installed on all my devices.  I usually only use it for accessing Google Services or testing code on my website(s).

Is this because I’m wary of the company tracking me so they can advertise?  Not really.  All companies do this.  Many are much more nefarious.  Is it because I don’t like Google?  Not at all.  They have some fine services and most of them work very well.

So why don’t I rely on Google for many of my day‑to‑day needs?  The answer is simple.  The service might not be available in the future.  Am I concerned about nothing?  Probably not, but let’s take a look at some Google services that are no longer available:

• Inbox by Gmail was an email service developed by Google. It was officially released to the public on May 28, 2015. Inbox was shut down by Google on April 2, 2019.
• Google+ was an Internet‑based social network that was launched on June 28, 2011. This was Google’s fourth foray into social networking. It experienced strong growth in its initial years. The service was discontinued on April 2, 2019.
• Picasa was an image organizer and viewer for organizing and editing digital photos. There was an integrated photo sharing website. It was originally created by a company named Lifescape. In July 2004, Google acquired Picasa and began offering it as freeware. It was discontinued on March 15, 2016. Picasa Web Albums, a companion service, was closed on May 1, 2016.
• Google Goggles was an image recognition mobile app developed by Google. It was used for searches based on pictures taken by handheld devices. It was discontinued on August 20, 2018.
• iGoogle was a customizable Ajax based start page or personal web portal launched by Google in May 2005. It was discontinued on November 1, 2013.
• Google Reader was an RSS feed aggregator operated by Google. It was created in early 2005 and launched on October 7, 2005. Google Reader grew in popularity to support a number of programs that used it as a platform for serving news and information to people. Google closed Google Reader on July 1, 2013.
• Google Health was a personal health information centralization service (sometimes known as personal health record services) by Google. It was introduced in 2008 and discontinued in 2011.

This short list includes only a few of the more popular Google services and programs that have been discontinued in the past.  There are hundreds of others, including web authoring, newsreaders, social networks, messaging applications, web analytic programs, toolbars, etc.

Almost without fail, every time Google kills something, you will find a lot of articles on how important it was.  There are always many suggestions on what to replace the Google product with.  They seem to forget that Google is a business and offered the services in exchange for user information, which can be sold to advertisers.  When the service is no longer profitable, it gets shut down, no matter how popular it is.

That is the main reason why I don’t use Google for things that are important to me.  What if someday Google G‑mail is no longer profitable?

Thanks for reading and keep on clicking.

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Changing My Website Host

November 8, 2020 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

A couple of months ago, I gave a presentation on why I thought everyone should have their own domain, even if they didn’t have a website.  One of the things I stressed was taking care in choosing a web site hosting company.  I told them how hard it was to change to a new web host.  It was a pleasant surprise to find out that I was wrong.

I’ve been using the same web host and domain registrar for twenty years.  I’m not going to name which one because I’ve obviously been satisfied with the service, up‑time stats, support, speed, accessibility, etc.  I currently have three active web plans and about a dozen parked domains.

About a month ago, the hosting contract for tinys-bs.com expired.  For the past year or so, I had been toying with the idea of changing to HostGator.  Both of my computer clubs use the company without any problems.  Why am I changing?  There isn’t any specific reason, but instead a bunch of little ones.  Of course, cost is always a factor.  I’m not going to save a lot, but every nickel counts.  HostGator also makes it much easier to use Let’s Encrypt.  The internet has evolved to the point where SSL is almost mandatory.

I made the change with only one minor glitch.  Before changing hosting services, I transferred my domain names.  This did not go easily.  I believe it was because I tried to transfer both tinys-bs.com and tinysbs.com at the same time.  One change was successful and the second failed.  It took about a week to get it corrected.  In the future, when I move other domain names, I will only do one at a time.

I was dreading having to upload all my web site files and data.  There are almost 38,000 files and more than 2GB of data.  This turned out to be extremely easy.  HostGator has what they call the “Migrations Department”.  This assistance is used to transfer data to your new site.  It is normally a paid service but was free as part of my new customer package.

I decided to give it a try and it worked easily and perfectly.  It was a simple, three step operation.  All I had to do was complete an on‑line form.
1. Select the Destination Hosting Package.  This information was pre‑inserted into the proper areas after I selected my hosting package in a drop down box.
2. Enter Your Old Hosting Information.  There were several items I had to input:
• Account Domain Name
• IP/Hostname
• Control Panel URL
• Previous Hosting Company
• Control Panel Used
• Is there an SSL Certificate?
• Account Username
• Account Password
3. Submit the Transfer Request.  They said it could take up to a week to complete.  I got an e‑mail three days later with a link to check that all my files had completed successfully.

After I checked everything and deleted a few things I no longer used,  I was ready to shift to my new hosting service.  I did this by simply logging in to my hosting panel and changing the DNS Servers to point to my new location.

I wish everything on the internet was so easy to do.
Thanks for reading.

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Online Design Sites – Originally Published February 2020

February 16, 2020 Posted by Tiny

A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch

I know it looks a little grainy.  I know it looks a little tacky.  I know you probably said, “What the heck is Tiny doing now?”  Yes, I’m talking about the front page of this months newsletter.

There are a lot of online sites for designing things.  What is great about many of them is the fact that you don’t have to download and install software on your computer.  Some have been discussed at club meetings.  This month, I’d like to pass on a few that I use fairly often.

Create Word Clouds lets you make an image made of words that together resemble a cloudy shape.  The size of a word shows how important it is e.g. how often it appears in a text.  I’ve used it to create the heading image for “Big Words That You Will Probably Never Use” in the monthly newsletter.  I’ve also made a “history” header which I occasionally use.  It is easy to use.  Just type in, or copy and paste, your words.  Click “generate” and download your image.

˙ʞooqǝɔɐɟ uo sʇsod ǝʞɐɯ ı uǝɥʍ ʇoן ɐ bɹo˙ʇxǝʇdıןɟ ǝsn ı It is a fun little site that does only one thing.  Whatever you type is converted to “upside down” text.  Then just simply copy and paste to whatever medium you are using.  The only minor quibble I have with the site is that it doesn’t retain capital letters.

If you need to make a logo, DesignEvo is a site with more that 10,000 templates that you can use to design it in a few minutes.  Just pick a category, add a name and slogan (both optional), pick an icon and download your new logo.  You also have the option to change the font.

One of mah favo’ite sites is Th’ Dialeckizer. This hyar site has a simple corncepp.  Type o’ past whutevah yer hankerin’ t’say into th’ text box.  Then seleck a dialeck fum sevahal catego’ies: Redneck, Jive, Cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedish Chef, Mo’on, Pig Latin, Hacker o’ Censo’.  Yo’ kin also inter a URL address an’ translate an intire web page.  Redneck is th’ dialeck ah use most offen.

Almost all of the buttons and information tabs on the club’s web site were made on ImageFu.com.  Like all the links in this article, it is free and easy to use.  There are several options for text, coloring and shape.  After you’ve finished your design, click the “download” button.  Da Button Factory is another site that does the same thing.

I got the idea for this article after I stumbled across The Pulp‑O‑Mizer web site.  Although, the obvious purpose is to sell merchandise, I immediately thought it would be fun to do something for the club newsletter.  I designed the cover page in less than fifteen minutes without having to look at any instructions.  The reason it doesn’t look so great is because I expanded it to fit the page.  It wasn’t the best resolution.  You can see that it looks a lot better in the picture accompanying this article.  I probably won’t use this site again.

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

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