How-To-Geek

Hi All,

Just found an interesting computer, geeky type site called 'How-To-Geek' (hereafter HTG). 

So, just what is HTG?  Its an online tech magazine that is dedicated to providing interesting articles, how-to's, and more to the audience of tech-type and not tech-type readers.  The site was founded in 2006 whose original goal was to bring a better how-to site to the internet - with content that's understandable for regular people, but geeky enough for more technical readers....(source: HT FAQ).

Click here for a link to the HTG Discussion Forum's.  

Click here for Windows articles and information. 

Click here for Mac articles and information about Mac OS. 

Click here for iOS article and for everything related to iPhone and iPad's.

Click here for Android articles and for everything related to Google and Android.

Other useful links on the site include Gaming, Security and Photography.  Click the links to follow them to that particular subject....

Enjoy the site and the new technology!

Regards,
Stu


 

Speedtest - How Fast is Your Internet?

Hi All,

How fast is your internet connection?  Does your internet service provider claim one download speed and one upload speed - and you believe that it is much slower than that?    Indeed!


Click on this link from Speedtest.net and you can see what your exact upload/download speeds are anytime of the day.

Its simple, click on the words 'Begin Test' and you're computer will be pinged and you'll find out what your upload speed is and what your download speed is!

Mobile apps are available from the App Store, Windows Store, Google Play and Amazon Apps by Speedtest.net by clicking on this link! 

At the end of the test users will be able to rate their internet service provider and find out what their IP address is by looking at the bottom of the screen. 

Finally, users can click on the 'My Results' icon at the top of the page and see how their computer compares to a range of other computers and servers in various locations.

Enjoy the site and hopefully you have a fast internet connection for your downloads and uploads!

Regards,
Stu

Reuters Technology News

Hi All,

If you are interested in computers, tablets, internet news, smartphones or anything else related to technology you might want to visit RTN.  What is RTN?  Simply put its an acronym for Reuters Technology News.

With main topics like business, Google, Apple, Cybersecurity, Technology videos, and more, readers will be in the know with respect to technology news. News is current, relevant and the articles are very well written.

Enjoy the site and the technology news!

Regards,
Stu

Things You Can Do With Your Smartphone...

Hi All,

You've come a long way Mr. Smartphone.  No longer is the smartphone just capable of searching the web or getting email or texting.  Nope...its a whole new world out there of tools, scans, resources, fitness tools, note taking, voice operating tools and much, much more - as you'll see in this post. 

You probably know all this already...but if readers pick up even just one tip...well, then I can consider this post a success.  (But I am shooting for a bit more than just one tip being picked up by a reader!)

Mashable has a link  titled, 'Apps: 10 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Your Smartphone'.  Check out #3 and #7...

Techrader.com has its own version of '10 Things You Didn't Know Your Smartphone Could Do' - article is current and interesting - check #6...you'll never need to look outside again for the weather - although that might be easier...

As if you didn't know already, there are a ton of fun things you can do with your smartphone - now this list has been organized for you in this article from Sooperarticles.com. Title of the article is 'Fun Things To Do With Your Smartphone'.

Not to be beat, Techlicious.com has come out with an article on '8 Things You Didn't Know You Can Do With Your Smartphone'.  (I had no idea about detecting leaky windows or that you can check your check engine light, or the fish finder!)

And, not to be outdone, USA Today - a mainstream newspaper - chimed in with an article as well.  They titled the article '5 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do With Your Smartphone'. Clever, eh?

Finally, we have a bevy of books in the library on how to use your smartphone! Click on this link which will link you to the Farmingdale library card catalog and books on the subject of smartphones!

Enjoy the links and the books and your smartphone!

Regards,
Stu

The Internet in Real Time

Hi All,

Very interesting website alert!  The Internet in Real Time.

What the heck is this you ask?!  Great question.  

Readers can click on this link to watch as various internet giants (Twitter, YouTube, Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, WhatsApp, Yelp, Foursquare, Pinterest, Pandora and more) do what they do best! 

Users can see LinkedIn (the number of user searches), YouTube (the number of videos hours watched), the number of check-ins at FourSquare or the number of the reviews posted on Yelp or the number of files saves on DropBox or the number of Likes and Posts on Facebook or the number of hours watched on Netflix or the number of hours streamed on Pandora...and much more...

Very simple, colorful and entertaining website.  Here is the link again.

Enjoy the site - don't spend too much time on it!

Regards,
Stu

Smart Phone Security

Hi All,

Many of us know that smartphone usage is increasing exponentially.  Seriously, they are everywhere - and they are awesome in that users can text, email, search the web, play music, watch movies and much, much more.

But there can be a downside to smartphone use...(sorry).  eWeek.com came out with an article back in February 2014 entitled, '10 Mobile Security Issues That Should Worry You'.  Its a slideshow so it won't take long to take a peak - its worth your time and effort.  

Click on this next link from Verizon.com for an entry called '9 Tips to Keep Your Smartphone Security'.  Some of the highlights in the article include locking your smartphone with a pin and installing an Android security app. 

Alternatively, you can click on this link titled '7 Best Practices For Smartphone Security (from Cnet.com)'. (Enabling 'Do Not Track' and Avoid answering spam calls are my faves!)

And, finally, click on these two links for more info on how to keep your smartphone safe and secure!
'How to Keep Your Smartphone (and its data) Secure' - ComputerWorld.com
'Smartphone Security Tips' - Kaspersky.com
'10 Best Ways to Secure Your Smartphone' - Androidcentral.com

Enjoy the links - hope your phone and data are more secure after you read this blog post!

Regards,
Stu


  

AppSmart and Other App Sites

Hi All,

Just found an interesting link on the New York Time website.  Its called App Smart and can be found at this link. App Smart enables users to find the best mobile apps for your needs (tracking fitness, creativity or falling in love...).  Note that App Smart is video based so users get to watch on their device.  A very random sampling of videos includes: Avoiding Sunburns, Writing Poetry, Going Green and History 101.

Below I've listed a major site that reviews various apps for various Android and Apple devices. 
148Apps - includes reviews, new apps, price drops, top 148, how to, feeds and more.  Links also to All iPhone Reviews, iPhone Games, All iPad Reviews, iPad Games, Hardware and more. 

Finally, click on this link from PCMag.com for their section on Apps.  PCMag also has hands-on reviews of iPad Apps, iPhone Apps, BlackBerry Apps, Android Apps, Palm Apps, Windows Mobile Apps,  Mobile Utilities and Mobile Games...click here for a few of PCMag's 100 Best articles: 100 Best Android Apps, 100 Best iPhone Apps, and the 100 Best iPad Apps.

Enjoy the download and the apps!

Regards,
Stu

Tech Websites Galore!

Hi All,

I've listed a whole bunch of tech friendly, tech related websites.  Why?  I'm preparing for a CHIP Chat class that I'm hosting on Monday, December 2nd and Thursday, December 12th at the library.  BTW, CHIP is an acronym which stands for Computer Help In Person....get it?  Computer Help In Person - CHIP is the first letter of each of the words...

Anyway, in preparing for this presentation I've put together a fairly comprehensive list of tech and tech related websites.

Click on any of the links and you'll go directly to that particular website.  Wow - there's a lot of tech information available on the web -as one would expect!

My faves...PCWorld, Cnet, ExtremeTech and Technorati!

Enjoy the techie links!
Stu

http://www.microsoft.com (Microsoft’s website)

http://www.PCWorld.com

http://www.PCMag.com

http://www.Cnet.com

http://www.Extremetech.com

http://www.Techcrunch.com

http://www.thenextweb.com

http://www.wired.com (future web trends and at one time a print magazine)

http://www.tech2.com

http://www.gizmodo.com (gadget lovers)

http:/www.mashable.com

http://www.theverge.com

http://www.digitaltrends.com

http://www.techradar.com

http://www.technorati.com (tech blogs and more)

And here are a bunch of App-related websites to boot!

http://www.play.google.com (Google Play Store)

http://www.Amazon.com

http://www.appsites.com

http://www.appbrain.com

http://www.androidfreeware.net

http://www.freewarelovers.com/android

http://www.appsaga.com

New Thread For Topics!

Hi All,

I've had some time to think about the blog and possible topics...

Have I got topics planned for you!

Regular readers might remember that I started a thread of posts entitled, 'A is for...', 'B is for...', etc? Well, now I'm going to do the same thing - but a bit different.

We all know that eating healthy is important for good health. Well, on occasion, I'm going to pepper blog posts with topics on fruits and vegetables. For example, one post might be titled, 'B is for Bananas', or another post might be titled, 'R is for Raspberries'...the topic of each post will be the health benefits of each fruit or vegetable, a bit of history of the fruit, and other fun filled facts about the fruit for vegetable in question.

So, today, we are going to talk about apples. Of course apples - how could I not. The whole original sin issue rears its head when we talk about apples along with applesauce recipes, the many different variants of apples and links to apple picking and apple orchards on Long Island.

Forthwith - to apples we go!

So, why are apples so healthy? Click on this link for the healthy benefits of apples - courtesy of About.com.

Think you know about all the different varieties of apples? Click on this link and I suspect you'll find a few varieties that you haven't heard of before!

Click on this link for the Wikipedia entry on apples which discusses the history, health aspects and more about apples.

Yum, yum...now click on this link for some darn good apple recipes. I'm thinking apple pie, apple cobbler, apple sauce...I am so hungry now! Again, link is from About.com - recipes section. Click on this other link to find some more apple recipes from Allrecipes.com.

And remember, apple picking with kids can be a hoot - click on this link to find local orchards on Long Island where you can pick your own apples. Link is from Long Island.com fruit stands section.

Enjoy! Hope you like the format of the entry - because I have 25 more fruits and 26 more vegetables to talk about! I wonder what vegetable begins with the letter 'z'?

Stu

The Web - Alphabetically...Well, Not the Whole Web...

Hi All,

Just a little fun overview/summary/big picture view of the web for today - the day after a wonderful, sunny, rain-free, Memorial Day.

Starting with the letter A...some great websites beginning with the letter A!

Amazon.com - online retailer for literally everything you can think of!!!

Apple.com- everything 'Apple related' com including Ipod, Ipad, Itunes and Mac computers.

Amtrak.com - railroad tickets and reservations for railroad - services much of the United States

American Airlines.com - find airplane tickets and make reservations for your next trip or vacation

AOL.com - one time dial up king has tried to reinvent itself as an internet portal - worth a look

ABCnews.com - real-time news and entertainment

Allrecipes.com - hungry? great place to find recipes and comments on already made recipes

AllAreaCodes.com - find an area anywhere in the continental US and Canada

Ask.com (used to be About.com) - got questions? they've got answers. But the Farmingdale Public Library reference desk is faster, friendlier and more efficient

Adobe.com - the homepage of the company that designs and sells software as varied as Acrobat Reader, Photoshop, Creative Suite, Fireworks, Flash Media, PageMaker, Authorware, Ovation, Dreamweaver and more. Click here for product downloads. Click here for support from Adobe on various pieces of software.

Enjoy the links and enjoy the sunny day outside!

And yes, I will be going through the alphabet in the future writing blog entries like this one - in this same format.

Stu

Facebook link to the library
Twitter link to the library

Tech, Tech, Tech....(Part 2)

Hi All,

Just changing it up a bit more today. I originally planned on doing another Thanksgiving Day related entry...but as I was driving to work today, I heard story on the news about PC World and their top 10 list of various computer resources (Iphones, downloads, computers. cellphones, smarphones, you get the idea...)

So when I realized that back on October 1st I wrote a blog entry whose topic was technology and when I realized that their was a good amount of interest in the entry, I put two and two together...bingo. Blog entry.

So here we are on the eve of Thanksgiving 2010 talking about tech...

The main PC World website can be found by clicking on this link. The site itself is phenomenally useful since it has current technology industry news, reviews of products, a large collection of How-To's for users (everything relating to pc's, laptops, smartphones and other devices is included), downloads for all these devices, apps, and a very helpful shop and compare section (if you want to compare prices on pc's for example). There is also a search box available so users can find what they want.

But the main reason I wanted to talk about the site is this: The Top Rated Tech Products page. PC World's editors review products like laptops, printers, camera's, HDTV, storage devices, phones, audio and visual theater components, camcorders, and e-Readers (a library favorite).

Many of the review articles are labeled 'Top 10..." That is pretty helpful for busy readers since it means that you don't have to sift through reviews on 25 (for example) different products. The PC World editors have taken the work out of it for you by picking the top X products.

When users click on a category a new window opens up. The top products in the category appear. Each item is separated in tab form so the whole table is easy to read. Once in the table itself though users can click on a link to a full review of the product, a test report link and the specs of the device/product. In addition, users can compare the product, check prices or buy directly at Lenovo (no - I am not endorsing them....)

Finally, on the PC World site users can have free newsletters sent to the them via email. Click here for the link.

Hope this helps feed the inner geek in all of my readers. I'm sure I'll write about tech again in the future. And if you have any comments or thoughts on this entry - or any other entry - that I've written about, you can send me an email by clicking here.

Alternatively you can leave a comment below...

Enjoy the device hunting and Thanksgiving of course.

Finally, don't forget to friend the library on Facebook and follow our Twitter stream!

Stu