(If you’d rather watch this than read this, go here: http://vimeo.com/42028060)

The iPad has been spectacularly well received in the marketplace. People bought twelve million of them in the first quarter of 2012. Thinking about getting one? Here are few things to know first.

One. In my humble opinion, the iPad (or “tablet computing” as Microsoft worshippers refer to the sport) is the wave of the future, a very good thing if you’re elderly or getting older, and the best thing that has happened to computers since the invention of the mouse.

“The mouse” in fact is why Pads are such a big hit: they don’t have one! You pick it up, you touch it, and you go!

Two. Don’t wait for a “Windows version of the iPad.” Not gonna happen. Not anytime soon, anyway. The “tablet PC’s” available now are a mere shadow of the iPad. Buyer, beware.

Three. The iPad does what it does very well. Email, cruise the Web, socials, songs, pictures, games, movies…the most popular uses of a personal computer are embodied on the iPad.

Four. The iPad does not do everything well. You are still going to need your desktop machine for typing, composing, writing, intricate work…the stuff most people earn their living doing on a computer. This may be the biggest reason more people don’t buy an iPad: “I can’t use it for work.” That is changing.

Five. Transferring files (pictures, songs, movies, documents…) between desktop and iPad is a pain in the butt. Eventually everyone develops their own method of doing this. So will you, or you will just not bother. So it goes. This problem may be fixed eventually.

Six. The iPad needs Wi-Fi to work. This is true for tablets in general. Make sure you have wireless Internet working before you bring your iPad home. If your cable or fiber service is only a year or two old, you certainly have Wi-Fi even if you’ve never used it. Call your friendly neighborhood me for help if you need working, reliable Wi-Fi.

Seven. Your iPad will wear out. Guaranteed. The reason is rather nerdy. Suffice it to say, some parts in your pad will wear out and when they do, it’s cheaper to buy a new one. To delay this from happening as long as possible, get the most storage on it you can afford. Get all the warranty and extended warranty coverage you can as well, and just prepare yourself for the inevitable.

Eight. You’re going to have to carry it in something. Women, who have carried purses since before the wheel was invented, are more used to this idea than men. Look for a light-weight padded case for your iPad.

Nine. You are going to have to charge it. You probably already have a charging ritual with your phone. Make room for one more device.

Ten. Tech support is easy. Just ask the youngest child you know. I have found, time and time again, the way to answer the question “How do I do X on the iPad?” is to think like an 8 year-old and try whatever comes to mind. Ta Daaa!

-LLiioonneell
Lionel Goulet
Computer Help Company
www.compHELPco.com
(781) 209-0856

The Nerd’s Words (sm) comes out every once in a while.
Back issues can be found at http://blog.compHELPco.com/
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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“What do you use to get your email?”

Blank stare.

“What browser do you use?”

Blank stare.

Happens all the time.

And why should you know? What you want is Facebook, not a degree in freaking computer science. (I’m the one with the degree in freaking computer science.)

So when I get the blank stare, I ask a different question:
“Do you use the ‘big blue E’?”

The eyes light up.

Here’s what I’m trying to tell you today in a short sentence:
Stop Using The Big Blue E.

It’s a hole through which the bad guys are crawling into your computer in huge numbers. Nerds call it “an attack vector,” a “vulnerability.”

Pass this on to your friends too. Tell them to stop using the big blue E.

But you need something to take its place.

The quick and easy way to replace the big blue E is to go to Google and click on the big blue button in the upper-right of the screen that says “Install Google Chrome”.

Follow all the instructions you will see on your screen and you’ll be done. Along the way, check the checkbox that says something like “Make Google Chrome my default Web browser.” That will replace the big blue E with the red, blue, yellow, and green beach ball.

You want to get rid of the big blue E on whatever version of Windows you have, but especially if it’s Windows XP. Microsoft has stopped supporting (that is, fixing) Internet Explorer on Windows XP and you need to stop using it.

If you like and want to use Firefox, that’s OK too, but I’m recommending Chrome because it’s the easiest to get without a degree in freaking computer science.

-LLiioonneell
Lionel Goulet
Computer Help Company
www.compHELPco.com
(781) 209-0856

The Nerd’s Words sm comes out every once in a while.
Back issues can be found at http://blog.compHELPco.com/
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Everybody hates some part of Google except Google. Très emotional.
And as far as I can see, Google loves Google. Again with the emotions.
Is there no middle ground?

Google has worked themselves into a position of enormous power. They have done it the hard way, with smarts, and in the presence of stiff competition. They have built an array of some 40-odd products and every one of them is a class act: Google search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Images, Google Books, Picasa, DoubleClick,… This is very hard to do.

Google is based in California but their clientele is the entire world. Some of Google’s products are available in 130 different languages.

In the cost model of today’s 21st century marketplace, they give away almost everything they do, and only charge for one thing.

And here’s the part that makes everybody angry (or at least uncomfortable).

They charge to use their information about you.

Do you have a line of ski boots for sale?
Google can promise you that they will only show your ad to skiers.

Do you want to sell a new drug for diabetes?
Google can promise you that they will only show your ad to diabetics.

And they charge very little for it. Like the “used car salesman” stereotype, they only make a little money on each sale, but they make up for that in volume.

Hundreds of thousands of clicks per second, at a few pennies per click, and pretty soon we’re talkin’ real money.

This to me is a great idea. I get to use their excellent tools for free, and I am only shown advertisements for products I am interested in seeing.

For example:

Last week I went searching for a company to manufacture pills for a new health supplement a partner and I are going to market. I found two or three companies and contacted them through their Web sites. Well and good.

For the next week or so, every time I opened a Web page, at least one of the ads on the pages was for a drug manufacturing company. I actually found another company to talk to that way.

How did Google know I was interested in pill manufacturers?

Google was watching me.

Google watches you.

Google knows quite a bit about you (and me.)

Google knows where you live. Google knows where you travel. Google knows your gender. Google knows your sexual orientation. Google knows your phone number. Google knows about your health. Google knows where you are. Right now.

If you use a Google product, or communicate with anyone who does, Google knows about you.

This is enormous power. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Understandably.
Pardon me for this next sentence. If Hitler had had access to Google’s information, it would have made exterminating entire classes of people a whole lot easier.
Pay attention to this next sentence. We haven’t seen the last Hitler.

It doesn’t even take a world-class tyrant to raise the specter of abuse.
Even a small-town tyrant can do a great deal of damage with a list of, say, women in the early stages of pregnancy.

Google assures us with what seems genuine sincerity that it has the best intentions, that it knows what it is doing, that it is aware of how powerful what it’s doing would be in the wrong hands, and it is doing everything that can possibly be done to protect this valuable and powerful information. That’s what they say: “You can make money without doing evil.”

And of course they must. They must both say they are protecting us and they must also actually do the protection. The information they have gathered is their bread and butter, so we know it is in their interest to keep it safe.

The hard part is knowing whether or not Google has evil in their hearts.
And the answer is: of course they have!
So do we all.
“The line separating good and evil passes right through every human heart.” –Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn.

Given that, how far can we trust Google?
Me, I’m gonna trust them until they break that trust.
You?
.
.
.
Google has a box of thirteen (13) tools to see and control what Google knows about you. Sort of. It’s a start. You might want to go have a look-see:
http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/tools/

-LLiioonneell
Lionel Goulet
All trade marks are the property of their respective owners.
Te Deum.

Here are a few things to consider if you’re in the printer market.

• Have you considered no printer?

You want to really reduce your printing costs? When your printer dies, don’t replace it! There are alternatives to just about every printing requirement. When we were without a printer around here, we all found ways to deal. It is inconvenient. But it is ecological, cheap, and you can brag about it to everyone!

• Laser is cheaper than Inkjet.

This is well-established at this point. The page-by-page cost of laser printing is 1/10th the cost of inkjet.

• The printer manufacturers give away the printer and make it up on the refills.

You knew that, right?
Before you plunk down your money for a new printer, go into the other section of the store where they sell the replacement ink and toner cartridges for it and see what they cost. Figure inkjet you’re going to need 10 to 12 a year of each kind of cartridge your printer needs; or 1 to 2 laser toner cartridges. That, then, is how much your printer costs. Do not skip this step.

• Avoid HP and Lexmark. I like Brother. Everybody else is OK too.

Brother is great, HP used to be good; in my humble opinion. But every time I fix a printer problem involving an HP printer I’m further convinced HP has entered its sunset years. It’s a shame.

• Get a “duplex” printer.

Insist on it. They print on both sides of the paper automatically. Very 21st century.

• If your house or office has a wireless network, get a wireless printer.

You can put it anywhere the network reaches so everyone can share it. This one step will save you the cost of a second and possibly a third printer.

• When you get the printer set up, set it to always duplex, and look for something called “toner save mode.”

Duplex makes the printer use both sides of the page; and “toner save mode” means the documents come out looking a little lighter. You will get used to the lighter print appearance to the point that you won’t even notice it.

Oh, and when it comes time to fill up your printer, call Toner King at (908) 587-1128.

-LLiioonneell
Lionel Goulet
(781) 209-0856

All trade marks are the property of their respective owners.