Tech Tips

When we send documents to others, ideally we would like the other user to be able to see and print the document exactly as we see it on our computer. However, unless the user we are sending the document to has exactly the same version of software and all the same fonts we have, we can’t be sure they will see our document correctly. Fortunately, there is an easy way to accomplish sending documents that will print and display exactly as intended on any computer.

The technology behind our solution is called PDF, which stands for Portable Document Format. PDF files are often referred to as “acrobat files”. This is in reference to the software which first popularized the use of PDF files, Adobe Acrobat. Acrobat Reader is now simply called “Adobe Reader”, and so many people are now calling PDF files “adobe files”. This can be confusing because Adobe makes a lot of other software like Photoshop and Illustrator. So it would be best to refer to PDF files as “PDF files”, but just be aware that some people use the terms “acrobat” and “adobe”.

Most computers have the ability to read PDF files. Mac OS X comes with a program called “Preview” that opens PDF files. Adobe Reader is also available for free for Mac OS X. Most Windows PCs come with the free Adobe Reader pre-installed, and if not, it is often installed as part of other software or directly by the users themselves. Another good PDF reader for Windows that is very small and runs quickly is Foxit Reader. Foxit Reader is good for older computers since it runs quickly and needs less memory. There are even readers available for UNIX operating systems. So it is safe to assume that most people can read PDF files or they can easily get the necessary software. Since almost everyone can open PDF files, the real question is how do we create PDF files?

If you have a Mac, the operating system has built-in support for creating PDF files from any software. Simply choose to print a document, and instead of hitting the “print” button, look for an option to create a PDF. In Mac OS 10.4, there is a PDF button in the print dialog box to make this very simple. Basically, you save a PDF file instead of printing to the printer. You can then attach the PDF file to an e-mail, copy the file to a flash drive, or do whatever you want with it.

If you have Windows, there are many programs available to create PDF files. Many are free or very inexpensive. The one I recommend is PDFCreator. It is a free and open-source software that basically makes creating PDF files nearly as simple as it is on the Mac. Once the software is downloaded and installed, it creates a virtual printer that you can use to create PDF files. Instead of printing to your printer, choose the PDFCreator printer and a PDF file will be saved. Again, you can then attach, copy, or do whatever you want with the PDF file.

If you have any other questions regarding document sharing, especially when it comes to cross-platform sharing, Marcel should be your first call!

Apple is offering a $100 credit to iPhone owners who purchased their iPhone before August 22nd. For more information, visit http://www.apple.com/iphone/storecredit/

One of the more common topics I get questions about is digital photography. Beginning with the purchase of a camera, I often get asked how many megapixels should their camera have. I also see many people confused about card readers. Finally, the biggest problems usually revolve around the organization and editing of their photos. In an attempt to help everyone avoid trouble, here are my tips to simplify digital photography.

1. When purchasing a digital camera, more megapixels is not always better. 4 megapixels will produce nice 4×6 and 5×7 prints. 5 megapixels will produce good quality 8×10 prints. Unless you plan on making larger prints, more megapixels simply waste space on your memory cards. This means your memory cards will hold fewer photos, requiring you to purchase larger memory cards. In addition, more megapixels usually means a more expensive camera.

2. Purchase and use a card reader. It is generally much easier to transfer photos from your digital camera by taking out the memory card and putting it in a card reader. This avoids the hassle of making sure your camera is charged and in the right mode. There are many inexpensive card readers available that can read a wide variety of memory cards. Just make sure the card reader you choose works with the memory card your camera uses.

3. Don’t even think of installing the software that comes with your digital camera. Most of the software that comes with digital cameras are bloated, inefficient, and unnecessary. If you have a Mac, it already comes with iPhoto. It will easily import your photos from your card reader with no additional software. If you have Windows, download the free program Picasa (http://picasa.google.com/). Picasa is small, efficient, and easy to use. And again, by using a card reader, Picasa will import your photos regardless of what kind of camera you have. Both iPhoto and Picasa make organizing and editing your photos very easy. They also make the process of e-mailing your photos simple since they can automatically reduce your photos and send them to your e-mail software.

If you follow my three tips, working with digital photos will become a whole lot easier for you.

Contact Marcel if you have questions about digital photography or other digital media technologies.

If you know someone who uses AT&T/Yahoo DSL service (formerly SBC/Yahoo or Ameritech DSL), you may want to make them aware of a potential problem looming on the horizon. AT&T is making changes to their e-mail servers to make them more secure. However, these changes require that users modify the configuration of their e-mail software to continue to use e-mail properly. A partial list of software that is affected includes Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Eudora, Apple Mail, and Thunderbird. Users who only use AT&T/Yahoo’s webmail feature are not affected.

More information on these changes can be found here http://helpme.att.net/article.php?item=10918. However, be aware that the instructions on this page are not entirely accurate! I have found that a setting called SMTP authentication must also be enabled. The exact way to set this differs between e-mail programs, but it usually is referred to as SMTP AUTH, authentication, or authorization.

It appears that for some users the changes have already started causing problems. AT&T has been sending their customers e-mails warning of the required changes. However, many users ignore the e-mail, or do not feel comfortable making the required changes. So if you know anyone with AT&T (or SBC or Ameritech) DSL service, usually identifiable if their e-mail address ends in att.net, sbcglobal.net, or ameritech.net, please point them to this article.

Usually, a call to AT&T support will help resolve this issue. But oftentimes a call to AT&T support will result in long wait times or talking with a difficult to understand support technician. If you or someone you know would like help getting this issue resolved, let them know that I will identify and fix this problem as part of my Computer Tune-Up service.

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on phones and related accessories and services, in no small part due to the recent release of the Apple iPhone. One of the more interesting services I’ve come across is from a company called SimulScribe. Simply put, SimulScribe offers a voicemail service that uses voice recognition technology to convert all voice messages into text and immediately send them to your cell phone or e-mail. This allows you read your voice messages right away, without needing to actively listen to them. This is a simple but powerful idea. Being able to read your messages should save a lot of time, especially if you’ve got a lot of messages in your voicemail box. You can quickly see which messages are important or urgent and be able to take action, rather than spending the time required to listen to entire messages.

SimulScribe’s basic plan costs $9.95 per month for up to 40 messages, then 25 cents for each message after 40. This seems like a reasonable cost, unless you receive a lot more than 40 voicemail messages per month. Calls where no messages are left do not get counted toward your bill. SimulScribe claims that their service will work with any wireless carrier and most landline or corporate voicemail systems.

While the point of the service is to send your voice messages as text, you always have the option to actually listen to any voicemail, which is useful in situations where significant background noise may prevent the voice recognition from working. Perhaps the most useful aspect of SimulScribe is that once the messages are in text, you don’t need to write down the important information from the message. As long as you keep your text messages around, you can easily find names, address, or other important information. You can also go to SimulScribe’s web site to search, sort, and archive converted messages as you do with e-mail. This is just not possible with regular voicemail.

The most impressive thing about SimulScribe, however, is the numerous awards and testimonials the service has received. Personally, I saw enough recognizable names and awards to convince me to give SimulScribe’s service a try, at the very least for their free 1 week trial. I’ll be starting their service soon, so If you’re interested in finding out how the service worked for me, feel free to contact me and I’ll let you know.

The Business Software Alliance (http://www.bsa.org), an organization made up of large software developers, has started publicizing up to $200,000 rewards for employees who turn in their companies for using pirated software. While I’m all for the legal and proper use of software, this latest initiative from the BSA should be of concern to all companies, whether they use pirated software or not.

The problem is that one allegation, if the BSA chooses to pursue it, requires a company to prove they are not pirating, even if they have legally purchased all their software. This can result in a lot of work for a company, as they scramble to look up software receipts, license codes, and CD keys. Additionally, the BSA may request they do an on-side audit, wasting even more of a company’s time and productivity. If a company can’t prove they aren’t pirating software, they face costly settlements, usually requiring the repurchasing of missing software licenses. This is the case even if the company simply couldn’t find the proper documentation, or if employees were the ones who brought in improperly licensed software.

Usually, the BSA likes to go after large companies. But they have been known to go after smaller companies, so don’t think you are safe if you have a small business. In order to protect themselves, companies must be diligent about keeping good records regarding their software purchases. They also must have policies and practices in place that disallow the installation of non-company purchased software by employees. However, these things have a cost as well, both in time and money. The larger the company, the more expensive software licensing compliance becomes.

One thing companies can do to eliminate the hassle and expense of software licensing compliance is to use open source software. Open source software is not owned by any particular company and is usually licensed freely. Since the software is free, there is no need to keep track of licenses or the risk of being audited by the “software police”.

There are not always open source options for every software in every business. However, there is a very good open source option for Microsoft Office. OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org) is an open source “office suite”, including a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software, analogous to Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Unlike many other competitors to Microsoft Office, OpenOffice reads and writes the Microsoft Office formats with nearly 100% compatibility. Without going into too many more details about OpenOffice, it is suffice to say that many companies can save a lot of money by using OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office, not just in initial purchase price and the ongoing costs of upgrades, but also in the cost of staying in license compliance.

If you would like more help with software licensing, or are interested in saving money by using open source technologies, please contact Marcel.

I love my shiny new MacBook Pro. However, until just a few mintues ago, one thing was annoying me. If I would try to choose Network from the Go menu in the Finder, nothing would happen. Upon further investigation, I also noticed that the Network icon in the sidebar had an eject button attached to it. I knew this was not supposed to be the case (how can you “eject” the “network”?). I recalled that I had this problem a few years ago on my G4 desktop and that I had solved it after doing some Internet research. However, I could not remember how I solved it, so I went back to the Internet and tried to find the solution. After many searches over the course of a day, I could not find a solution – which is strange for me because I almost always find solutions to problems like this fairly quickly. However, I did find a few references to people having the same problem, so I knew I wasn’t crazy. Still, I was without a solution. Not that it was a really big problem, but I don’t like being annoyed – especially by a brand new Mac. Therefore, using my mystical technology powers, I divined a solution. OK, it was just a well-educated hunch, but still, maybe I do have mystical powers.

I downloaded, installed, and opened OnyX 1.8.0b1 (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20070). After letting OnyX verify my Startup Volume, I clicked on the Maintenance icon in the toolbar, then the tab labeled “Reset”, then checked the option for “Sidebar of Finder windows”. I clicked the Execute button, heeded the warning message, and clicked the Continue button. OnyX did it’s magic, restarted the Finder, and voila! problem solved.

I have posted this fix because I had such difficulty finding a solution myself, I thought I would help other users who might encounter this problem in the future (and just in case I forget again …)
For any Mac questions, feel free to contact Marcel Brown of Marcel Brown Technology Services.

Backing up your data is probably the most important thing you should do to maintain your computer. However, it is also one of the most misunderstood topics, and therefore, many people neglect to properly back up their data. In an effort to help people back up their data, I will summarize a very simple but effective backup routine.

Basically, instead of messing with media like CDs or DVDs, external hard drives are much simpler. They are relatively inexpensive and can hold many times more data than a CD, DVD, or most other removable media. Purchase an external hard drive that is bundled with backup software. Most backup software that are bundled with external hard drives are very simple to set up. Set up your software to automatically back up on a schedule, and you should be all set. Check your backup software’s logs every so often to ensure that the backups are running correctly.

For further data redundancy and peace of mind, buy 2 external hard drives. Periodically swap the drives and take one off site (for example, to a safety deposit box). This way, if your home or business suffers from a disaster such as fire or theft, you will have a backup in another location.

There are many brands of external hard drives. I feel more comfortable recommending well-known brands such as Seagate and Western Digital. However, any brand is better than having no backup at all.

If you already have an external hard drive, but no backup software, I recommend Retrospect Express HD (http://www.emcinsignia.com/products/homeandoffice/retroexpresshd). It only costs $50, is very simple to use, and you can download it immediately after ordering it on line. Even if your hard drive came with backup software, but it doesn’t backup on a schedule or you just aren’t satisfied with it, you can buy Retrospect Express HD.

The bottom line is that your data can be gone in the blink of an eye. Don’t put off backing up any longer. If you would like help setting up your backup, please feel free to contact me.

There are many things that can be done to keep your children from getting tangled up with the wrong types of people on the Internet, whether it’s “Internet Predators” or simply people you find unacceptable. Most of these things have nothing to do with technology. Since I’m not in the business of giving parenting advice, I’ll stick with talking about technology.

The first thing many people think of are “filters”. This is generally software that runs on your computer that will block your kids from certain web sites, e-mails, chat rooms, or peer-to-peer networks. This can be done by checking Internet addresses against “blacklists” or by checking for keywords. While filters can be effective for protecting children from accidentally going to web sites that you do not approve of, they are not as effective from preventing a child determined to find a way to get around your rules. Even if your kid doesn’t have a lot of technical knowledge, you can be sure they have a friend who does. Also, filters must be constantly updated to keep them effective, which usually requires a subscription fee to the company that makes the filter. Finally, they can block access to legitimate sites, which can be a problem for older children doing research.

I believe that the best way to protect your kids is to know what they are doing when they are using the computer. With the knowledge of what your kids are up to, you can make sure they aren’t getting themselves in trouble or doing things that you do not approve. Of course, you can’t sit next to your kid the whole time they are using the computer, so this simply isn’t realistic, right? Well, with the right technology, you can know what your kids were doing on the computer, down to very specific details, and even see exactly what they were seeing.

The software I recommend for monitoring your kids is from a company called SpectorSoft. SpectorSoft has a few different products, to choose from, so to make it simple, if you have Windows, I recommend Spector Pro (http://www.spectorsoft.com/products/SpectorPro_Windows/index.html). If you have a Mac, I recommend Spector for Mac (http://www.spectorsoft.com/products/Spector_Macintosh/index.html). Unfortunately, the Mac version doesn’t give you as many features as the Windows version, but it does give you enough information to effectively know what your kids were doing. Since SpectorSoft doesn’t label the Mac version as “Pro”, perhaps they will come out with a better version in the future. One good thing about Spector for the Mac is that it also runs on Mac OS 9, which is important because so many older Macs are still in use today.

For specific details of what Spector Pro does, do visit their web site listed above. It has a lot of in-depth and powerful features that you may be interested in, such as chat recording and MySpace monitoring, However, to keep things brief, I will only talk about the features I think are most important.

First, Spector Pro (as well as Spector for the Mac) has the ability to record screenshots of all activity. This can be done on a timed basis, as often as once a second, or based on user activity. Above all features, if you can see exactly what was on the screen when your kid was using the computer, you’ll have no doubt what they were doing. You can easily view these screenshots with simple “VCR-like” controls.

The second important feature is the ability to send you an instant alert if Spector Pro identifies a keyword that you have defined. You can create a list of “on alert” words or phrases and anytime Spector Pro detects the keyword, whether in a URL, chat room, e-mail, or typed on the keyboard, it can send you an e-mail – even to your cell phone. If you have concerns that your child is communicating with the wrong types of people, having nearly instant notification of this could be a life saver.

Perhaps the most important feature is that Spector is extremely stealthy and resistant to tampering. If your kids do not know that Spector is running, they will not try to find a way around it. It is also nearly impossible to detect that Spector is running, so they will not accidentally find out. Even if you tell your kids that you have installed software to monitor them, they still will not be able to find a way to disable it. Finally, access to Spector is protected with a hot key combination and a password so that only authorized users can view the recorded data or configure the software. Even if somehow your kids found a way to disable the software, you would know they did because you would have no record of what they were doing. It would be virtually impossible for your kids to create false data to fool you.

As mentioned above, using Spector can be effective regardless of if your kids know they are being monitored or not. If they don’t know they are being monitored, they are going to feel free to do everything they want, which will give you a very good idea of their computing habits, good or bad. If they do know they are being monitored, then they are much more likely to behave themselves, since they know you will be able to see exactly what they were doing. It’s completely up to you to use Spector in the way which best fits your particular situation.

Certainly, with as many options as Spector has available, if you do not feel comfortable installing or setting up Spector, I will be happy to help you out.

Many people feel that the only way to protect their electronic equipment from storms is to unplug them from the wall. While not having something plugged in is the only 100% sure way to protect it from a particular power event, it certainly isn’t practical. Additionally, the reality is that many power events happen everyday that we are never aware of. And we aren’t always home or awake to unplug everything during a storm. So how does one effectively protect their electronic equipment from power events? The answer is through a quality uninterruptible power supply, otherwise known as a UPS, or commonly referred to as a battery back-up.

In simple terms, a UPS is a surge protector with a battery as a back-up power source. If the UPS detects any sort of power disturbance – such as electrical noise, over/under-voltage conditions, or even a complete blackout – it instantly switches to the battery as the power source. In this way, the devices plugged in to the UPS will always receive clean power, no matter what the disturbance. Of course, the battery can only last so long, depending on its size and how many devices are plugged in, but generally the common consumer models can provide enough power to run equipment for 10 – 20 minutes. This is usually long enough for a short blackout and certainly long enough for those annoying blips in power all too common during the summer months.

The two brands I recommend, APC and CyberPower, both guarantee that their products will protect your equipment even from a lightning strike. These brands are commonly sold at most major retailers and at many local computer stores. If you need help sizing and choosing the best UPS for your needs, please let me know and I’d be happy to help.