Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
What I’m Buying Myself
Effects of the Economy on Technology Purchases
Apr 1st
Are we there yet?
It seems like it’s taking FOREVER for the economy to get to where everyone wants it to be. We’re all trying to drive in the same direction, but for some reason, we’re just not there yet.
In the meantime, everyone is making do with what they have.
Computer and gadget purchases are no different.
Here’s what I found in my office today after I was told that we’d be getting completely new technology upgrades including new flat panel monitors, ultra portable desktops, and lightweight moveable phone sets.
Little did I know to expect THIS . . .
Totally “moveable” . . . “lightweight”. . . “FLAT-panel” . . . uh YEAH!!@#?!#@?
QUESTION: What tech and gadget upgrades are you drooling over, but are holding out on for the time being? (READ: What’s on your current wishlist?)
Outsource Your Work With Freelancers
Dec 7th
Not enough time in the day? Too much to do, too little time?
It’s time to look at outsource some of your workload. Hiring freelance coders, designers, proof readers, presentation specialists or even plain old virtual assistants can help save the day.
Nowadays, there are online marketplaces where you can go to find the help you need. You are able to submit a job description for small jobs (I’ve done jobs as small as $15) to full blown long-term contractor jobs. You can look to outsourcing as a virtual workforce or like a place to get digital handymen to fix the small things that you just don’t have the time nor people to do it in house.
Three in particular worth a look are among the biggies:
oDesk
oDesk‘s angle is interesting – this service tries to ensure that every minute billed to your project is actual work. So you’re not getting billed for when they go to the bathroom, go outside to check their mail, fix a snack in the kitchen, etc. In fact, they offer per minute pricing via a proprietary remote desktop contractor interface that monitors keystrokes, provides periodic screenshots so you can actually see what your contractor is doing if you so wish to.
Rentacoder
I’ve been using rentacoder.com for smaller jobs. They have a lot of coders around the world that offer decent pricing. Like all of these marketplaces, you have to decide for yourself if you’re willing to open up your bidding to contractors where English is NOT their primary language, etc. Their communication interface keeps track of all discussion you have back and forth so that if there is a need to dispute in the end, a record of everything agreed to is available. They escrow your money for the job and won’t release it until the entire project is done and you approve the release.
eLance
This marketplace got bought out by eBay several years ago, and got a lot of attention – quickly making it one of the “big guys” in the outsourcing marketplace marketplace. The key to any job listing is that you have a lot of coders that are available so that you can get quality help – and also increase competition. Elance fits this picture. Although sometimes because of its prominence, sometimes the overall pricing might come out a little high (vs. if you listed the same project elsewhere). Worth testing to see if you like their platform for some jobs.
There are a bunch of other coder marketplaces too like scriptlance.com, guru.com, etc. All worth checking out. The key point is that you should identify a small job in front of you and test the waters to see if outsourcing is for you.
The 1 Black Friday Deal Everyone Should Buy (It’s $0.00)
Nov 27th
Black Friday has become a national sporting event.
That’s right, not shopping event – a sporting event.
Opportunistic deal hunting gone mass market, right? I’m sure either you just got back from shopping the crazy door buster deals out there at BestBuy, Fry’s, Staples, etc. or you know someone close to you that is right now.
Even if you’ve resisted the marketing machine, here’s one deal everyone should jump on. Why?
1) You can buy it right now in front of your computer without driving anywhere or getting in long lines.
2) It’s free after rebate – Everyone like free.
3) It’s for a Samsung brand bluetooth headset – Everyone can use a bluetooth headset.
The fine print says you can get 3 of these for free. Shipping is free too.
Just print out the rebate form with the receipt page when you get to it at checkout, fill it out and the envelope TODAY.
Now, when the box comes, all you have to do is clip the UPC and mail it away. Done. We like that.
What else are you getting on Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Amazon has some great Black Friday deals with free shipping today too.
Leave a comment below and let us know what new goodies you picked-up!
Deal Alert: Microsoft Windows 7 Premium $29.99
Sep 18th
Microsoft is at it again.
Last time, it discounted Microsoft Office ULTIMATE down to $59.
Now, it is targeting a huge pool of prospective customers and slashing the price of their flagship product for 2009-10. It is selling complete legal versions of Windows 7, for a mere $29.99.
And it’s not the basic edition. It’s for the Home Premium version of Windows 7!
If you are a student or teacher associated with a university (basically if you have a .edu address) then you pass the first step of qualification for this promotion.
It’s one upgrade that I’m actually jumping on after my less-than-happy experiences with Windows Vista Business to date.
Lucky 7, here I come.
LINK TO WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM DISCOUNT
How To Get WiFi-N Signal Strength From WiFI-G or WiFI-B Routers
Aug 24th
Personally, I have wifi-B routers in the house. To extend the coverage, I’ve daisy-chained two of them to increase the footprint of reception. It’s really easy to use a 2nd wireless router to basically act as an extension cord. All you have to do is turn of DHCP and make it into a wireless switch (switches are different than routers, but that’s a different blog post right there).
But I still have areas of the house and backyard deck where the signal strength is a bit weak. So I’ve been monitoring prices for the latest WiFi-N routers of course. The other option is to buy an “extender” or larger antennas – but the price is about the same with option A or option B.  Since what I have set-up basically works for 90% of my needs, I’m in no rush to spend full retail for the upgrade.
I recently heard of a hack that turbo boosts your signal. Here’s an amazingly simple router hack that lets you boost your Wi-Fi signal strength (in truth, it works for 802.11N / G / B / etc) for about $0.25.
The secret is in the parabola. . . check out this video tutorial to see how to create the wifi signal extender in less than 10 minutes:
If you don’t want to risk 10 minutes of your time to make an actual antenna dish, here’s a video that shows all the steps in detail. It’s not that involved in making the wifi extender parabolic reflector from the printable template. Remember all you need is the printed template, aluminum foil, scissors and a glue stick.
Ok, now do you like what you see?
Here’s the link for the printable wifi-extender template:
QUESTION: HOW MANY WIFI DEVICES DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE?
52 Free DVD Video Rentals Of Your Choice in 2009
Dec 24th
You have already seen them — since there are about 12,000 of them out there.
If not, once you start to look for them you’ll spot them all over the place. And every one of them is waiting to hand out a DVD movie of your choice to you for a free night’s rental.
You can go back over and over again for another free DVD movie week after week, all year long.
It’s the latest way that I get movies every week — in fact, there aren’t that many good movies worth watching, so this tip will get you more than enough video content than you would ever really watch in a given year.
What on earth am I talking about? Read the rest of this entry »
Download Full Versions of Microsoft Office for $5.99/Program [NOT a typo]
Aug 21st
It is not often that you come across completely full versions of programs that are discounted at 91% off MSRP list price.
This deal was really a shocker when I first heard of it. OMG! style shock.
At $5.99 / program, Microsoft is doing the equivalent of giving away the store. Especially since this deal is for the mainstay software product – Office 2007.
Even the standard student discount at BestBuy type big-box local stores was more expensive. They’re selling the Home & Student version with only Word, Excel and Powerpoint for $100.
This deal is 40% cheaper and comes with 10 programs, not 3!
Aimed at students, if you are a current or entering student, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you take advantage of this deal. If you haven’t upgraded to Office 2007, you will need to at some point in the future. And at $59 for all 10 programs in the Office 2007 ULTIMATE suite package, this really is a steal.
I downloaded the entire Microsoft Office 2007 suite and installed it on both my PC’s at home.
I suggest that you do too! If this promotion is anything like the last time it came around, it won’t be around for long. Better buy and download it from Microsoft directly soon (like today?).
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!