Category Archives: Computers
Twitter is alot like life….
THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY WAS PUBLISHED IN 2014. BUT I THINK IT IS STILL VERY RELEVANT TODAY.
I am in the “internet industry (www.gawebservices.com)”, and therefore, I often embrace new trends and technologies rather quickly. Sometimes this helps me better service my customers, sometimes, I get burned!
The Iphone was an example of getting burned. Yes, I stood in line when the Iphone first came out and purchased one of the first. But AT&T does NOT work well in Hawkinsville so the experience was not good. Plus, all my friends and family were on Verizon, so my cell phone bill went through the roof! (Now that the Iphone is on Verizon – I have come back.)
With Facebook, I fought it. I have enough to do each day without being sucked into the mesmerizing facebook. I finally decided I wanted to look up Kenny Reach, my college roommate, so I got on facebook. I connected with Kenny in about 30 minutes – awesome! But yes, I have become addicted to Facebook. I love keeping up with family and friends and learning so much more about mere acquaintances than ever before. There are people now that I really really like, that honestly, I have probably never had a full 10 minute conversation with before. Facebook is now an integral part of my business and we daily help our clients master this beast!
But Twitter was my hold out. I kept saying, that I did not want to share with the world what I was doing every 5 minutes of the day. But I really had it backwards. I thought Twitter was supposed to be about ME. But Twitter truly became alive and relevant for me when I realized Twitter was about others! (Alot like life……).
You see, once I started “following” people with similar interests but broader world experiences, I began learning. As I follow Entrepreneurs that have been very successful, I have garnered ideas and suggestions that hopefully have made my company more successful. As I follow the tweets of Godly men and women, hopefully, their witness has helped to shape my life into a better representation of Christ. As I follow my friends and family, I am more aware of the everyday pains and feelings that they experience which hopefully, makes me a better friend.
I once read that the only difference between you NOW and you five years from now is… The books that you read and the people that you associate with… I believe that. And I am now using Twitter to “associate” with people that I want to become. People that have succeeded in areas of their life that are also important to me. While I originally thought of Twitter as a “bullhorn” for me, It has become a “stereo” of multiple personalities and traits that I aspire too become.
Yes, I tweet. @shellyb I want to contribute to this new found community that I find myself apart of. But it is not about being heard…. It’s about hearing….
Shelly
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It isn’t vain to LIKE your own facebook posts…..
HOW VAIN! “Did you notice that he LIKED his very own Facebook post?” Actually, while sometimes this IS a form of vanity, often it is just a case of the poster knowing exactly what he is doing.
Facebook is always making modifications to their user interface. And one not too long ago was the addition of the “Ticker” on the right hand side of your screen. Previously, you would see ALL of your friends posts, but now you only see a few that are selected by Facebook. Unless your friends LIKE or comment on your posts often, your posts may stop appearing in their newsfeed. So to compensate for not showing your posts to all your friends, Facebook added the “Ticker.”
However, if you LIKE your own post, that action is NOTED in your friends TICKER, which gives them a chance to see your post EVEN if it does not appear in their newsfeed.
So the next time you see one of your friends “Like” their own post, it might not be just plain vanity. It might simply be giving YOU the opportunity to check out a post that you might not otherwise have ever sway. I am going to begin “Liking” all my own posts. You should too!
Also, if you enjoy MY posts, I recommend you LIKE them often, otherwise, they might just stop appearing in your feeds altogether.
Shelly Berryhill
www.shellyberryhill.net
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How do I keep my computer from getting infected?
The first line of defense against malware is … you!
You can check whether a file is harmful before you install it. Sometimes you can check before you even download it. VirusTotal (https://www.virustotal.com/en/) is a great website where you can check a file against 40 or so antivirus resources to see if it’s likely to be dangerous. It’s dead easy. A more complete explanation of the site is here: https://www.virustotal.com/en/about/. That page explains how to submit a file for analysis, too. If you do a lot of downloading, you might be interested in the advanced tools, here: https://www.virustotal.com/en/documentation/.
Once you’ve downloaded a file, you can (and should) check it before you install it. So given a choice to Save or Run or Save and Run, the best choice on a file you’re not sure about is Save. When the download finishes, right-click on the file. You will see options to scan the file with your antivirus and antimalware program. Do it! That scan takes seconds!
Even great, safe programs will try to force stuff on you. Sometimes it’s Google Chrome (I’m talking about YOU, Avast! Free) or McAfee Security Suite. (What does that have to do with updating your Java? Stop it, Adobe!) Always choose Custom Install over Typical or Express. Custom Install allows you to decline unwanted programs, toolbars, and search hijacks. Typical or Express installs mean that you accept whatever is offered. Clear the check boxes for the stuff you don’t want.
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Christmas arrived early for me – Google Glass
Months and months ago, I put myself on the list to be considered for Google Glass. Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project, with a mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format, that can communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands.
Well, on Friday, I got an email saying I had been selected to participate in their GLASS EXPLORER early adopter program. My Glass arrived on Tuesday! The Google Glass is really awesome. It has the heads up display slightly above my line of site. With just a brisk nod of my head, it comes alive with a computer screen. I can then communicate with it via voice commands. “Okay Glass, Make a call to Vonnie” or “Okay Glass, text Kristen that I will be late for our meeting” or “Okay Glass, give me directions to 94 Commerce Street in Hawkinsville”. I can check email, texts, news alerts, directions. I can take pictures or video. I can look at a sign written in a foreign language and it will automatically translate it for me. I can Google any inquiry – all hands free. Thus far, I REALLY like it. I will post from time to time on this blog to let you know my thoughts on Google Glass. Find out much more about Glass at: http://www.google.com/glass/start/ Also, this is a neat video to give you a feel for it. http://www.google.com/glass/start/how-it-feels/#video=hif-video
If any of you want to try it, let me know….
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Is your GMAIL account filling up?
Find Big Mail is a great app to use if your GMAIL account is filling up. My personal gmail account is 30 gig in size (I purchase extra space), but I am already using over 17 gig or over 50% of my space. In comes FIND BIG MAIL. Running this program told me… “75.8% of my Gmail space is used by 3.3% of my mail.” WOW! It then labeled the biggest offenders right in GMAIL for me to look at and delete what I could. I had 398 emails over 10mb, 451 emails over 5mb, and 2088 emails over 1mb. After running this program, I was able to delete many large files and got my gmail account to only 13 gig or 35% of my available space. Just a quick tip for you gmail users!
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Boot up time on your computer
I just found a new software solution that I really like. Have you ever noticed that over time your computer bootup gets slower and slower? Well, go to http://www.soluto.com/ and download their software. It is very easy to install and very easy to use. It basically analyzes all the files that run in startup and tells you which ones you can safely remove. The really neat part is that it utilizes the social power of the “cloud” – the world of internet users. It keeps track of what changes you make and uses that information to help determine what others should do when dealing with that same startup application.
I really like it. (okay, now for the disclaimers. I like it. I am a software guy. I pretty much know what I am doing. SOOOO… DON’T call me if you don’t know what you are doing, if this does not work for you, or if you don’t like it.). This blog is NOT meant to be an online help desk. and if it screws up your computer – well – again – don’t blame me).
Shelly
Shelly Berryhill 