Happy New Year…

Happy New Year from the high desert of southern Arizona. We have been visiting with our son and his family since early December, and we cannot put into words how wonderful it was to be with our two beautiful granddaughters (and mom/dad) on Christmas morning. We plan to be back in Florida sometime in January, but I didn't see any reason to miss the deadline for the TR times. We are living in a connected world, and since this column is about technology, it's appropriate that I submit my first column for 2012 via e-mail from Arizona. 

The theme of last season's OnMouseClick columns was up-to-date technology, with the last two columns devoted to the subject of social media, with emphasis on Facebook. I hadn't planned to revisit Facebook quite so soon, but an exchange I had recently with a TR resident changed my mind.

In early November I was catching up with a TR friend who had just arrived from up north, when she told me that she was a new grandmother, but had not seen any photos of her grandson in two weeks. I asked her if she was using Facebook to keep up with her grandson, like we do with our granddaughters, and she said that she didn't use or understand how Facebook works. It occurred to me that a good way to begin OnMouseClick for 2012 would be to give some simple directions on how to create your own Facebook account. 

Facebook is a website for users, who join for free, and who share information about themselves through text, photos and videos. Our daughter-in-law regularly post photos of our granddaughters, and we are delighted by every photo posted online. True, she could easily send us e-mails with the photos attached, but by posting on FACEBOOK she can share the photos not only with our extended family, but also with friends from around the world. We receive an email from FACEBOOK on each new post of our friends so we do not have to log onto to their account and wonder if new photos of our princesses are available.

First, a few caveats for those of you worried about privacy. A Facebook account can be as public or private as you want. I personally have no desire to have hundreds of friends — I am content with a small group of family members and friends as my "Facebook friends." My actual Facebook page is available only to these "friends,." You can control who reads and views your account.

To get started, go to www.facebook.com and fill-in the requested SIGN UP information. You will be asked for your first and last name, your e-mail address, a password, your gender, and birthday (your birthday can be visible as part of your profile, or hidden, it is up to you). Click on the Sign Up button and you have a Facebook account — it is that easy.

Your main Facebook page, know as the Wall, is where your "friends'" posts and comments will appear. Posts can be composed of text, photos, and videos. You can click that you "like" a post, or make a comment. If you make a comment on the post of "friend", your comment will appear on the other person's wall. At the top of your FACEBOOK page is a blue bar, and at the right end of the bar is a drop-down arrow. Click on the arrow and you can choose to edit your account and privacy settings. 

Once you have set up your account you will want to find "friends". In the blue bar at the top of the screen, just to the right of the word FACEBOOK, is a search box. Type in the name of someone you want to friend (Facebook uses the word friend as both a noun and a verb), and a list of possible matches will appear. To narrow down the list of hits, you can use SEARCH TOOLS to add additional filters, such as a city, educational institution, or workplace. Once you locate the correct person, click to send a FRIEND REQUEST. Soon you will be able to keep up with friends and family, share photos, and find out what is going on in their lives.

You might also find yourself searching for old friends from high school and college. This past summer I located a roommate from my early days of teaching. We had been out of touch for over twenty-years, and when I last saw her she was living in California. We connected on Facebook and I found out that she and her husband now live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. On our way south in October we stopped to visit with them and enjoy their hospitality — a visit made possible only by Facebook.

Next week OnMouseClick will cover how to go about adding text and photos to your FACEBOOK wall, and giving it your own personal touch. 

Winding down…

Earlier today I discovered that my niece is very excited that she fits into a sweater that was too tight last month, my daughter-in-law is happy that yesterday was a good day with our two granddaughters, and another young mother I know was happy this morning to have some free time to relax. How do I know all this? They posted on their Facebook pages, and since they are my Facebook friends, the comments appeared on my Facebook Wall. 

Last week I wrote about Social media in general, and Facebook in particular. Because of social media like Facebook, the process of social interaction and communication is changing. It is becoming accepted practice, especially for the younger generation (the ages of the women mentioned above range from 27 to 32), to share minute details of their lives on Facebook. I, on the other hand, cannot imagine why anyone, other than close friends or family, would really care if I am taking time to relax or how my clothes are fitting.

Other types of social media that were briefly mentioned in last week’s column include blogs, podcasts, online videos, and wikis. The simplest definition of a blog is an online journal, written by one person, or a group of people, about a specific topic. Blogs are written by laypeople who want to share information on a topic that interests them, by professional journalist as an alternative to traditional print media, and by people who fancy themselves as journalists, but are not part of the established media. What makes a blog different than print media, such as magazines and newspapers, is that the readers of a blog are invited to comment back, making them very interactive. 

OnMouseClick appears weekly in the TR Times, and it is also posted online in a blog at onmouseclick.blogspot.com. If you read the online version and you would like to ask a question or make a comment, you can click on COMMENTS at the bottom of the post and start a dialog. 

The same is true for podcasts. Podcasts are basically radio style broadcasts over the internet, and as with blogs, podcasters are both laypeople and professionals. Most people download podcast to mobile devices, such as iPods and MP3 players, and listen while exercising or commuting, but podcasts also invite listener participation through the internet. Some excellent free podcast are made by Bloomberg Radio, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and ESPN. If you have an interest or hobby, there is a good possibility that somebody podcast on that subject.

The most popular platform for posting online videos is YouTube, where anyone can create a YouTube (www.youtube.com) account and upload videos to share and interact with the online community. With YouTube anyone can become an actor, director, and producer. There are many fledgling musical groups and film makers who post their work on YouTube in the hopes of attracting an audience.

Wikis are a different type of social media — collaborative websites which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. The most notable wiki website is Wikipedia, a free, online encyclopedia maintained by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. While much of the information found on Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) is initially written by professionals, anyone can make additions and corrections to entries, although the foundation does exercise editorial control. Other notable wikis are Wikitravel, a project to create an up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide (wikitravel.org); Wikihow, a collaborative writing project designed to created the world’s largest how-to manual (www.wikihow.com); Wikinews, a website designed to present up-to-date and unbiased news coverage ( en.wikinews.org), and of course WikiLeaks (http://213.251.145.96). WikiLeaks defines itself as “a non-profit media organization dedicated to bringing important news and information to the public.” It is better known as the organization, founded by Julian Assange, that recently leaked classified documents to several mainstream news organizations.

And that is my last informational OnMouseClick paragraph for the 2011 season. By the time you read this I hope that Eddie and I will have arrived in Arizona for a month-long stay near our son and his family. I hope that you all enjoy the remainder of the season at TR and have a safe and healthy summer. See you next fall!

Social Media, Social Networks…

Today’s column is about the phenomenon of social media, and more specifically, Facebook. But first, I want to introduce you to a new Google website that recently came online. The website is Art Project, powered by Google and its stated goal is to bring works of art, housed in museums around the world, to everyone’s computer screen. The project is in its infancy, and initially there are only seventeen museums participating, but the project shows great promise for the future. Each museum offers a few works of art to view, both paintings and sculptures. The art work is viewed in high resolution, and can be magnified for close-up viewing. In addition, there are virtual tours of the museums — you can move from gallery to gallery, and even see the view from the outside the museums. One of the seventeen museums is The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, a favorite of mine. I took the virtual tour and enjoyed it immensely. When I got outside the museum, I found that I was also able to explore the streets of New York as well. The website can be found at www.googleartproject.com.

If you have been following the news in the past few weeks, you will have heard that young Egyptian dissidents used Facebook as a way of organizing protests, and “The Social Network”, one of the top grossing films of 2010, was based on the founding of Facebook. But what exactly is Facebook? It is considered part of a wide array of Social Media that is available on the internet. And what is social media? In simple words, it is a way of sharing information with other people over the internet, using both computers and smart phones. The content of social media is designated by the users, and is dependent on user interaction. Types of social media include blogs, wikis, online videos, podcasts, and social networks. 

Facebook falls into the category of social networks. People set up a free account with Facebook, and then proceed to “friend” other Facebook users. You can invite people you know to be your “friends”, people you know can ask to “friend” you, and you can connect with, and “friend,” people who have similar interests. Every Facebook user has their own set of web pages; the main page is called the wall, and all of your friends can post messages on your wall. Users can also post photos and videos to share with their friends.

Some Facebook users have hundreds and even thousands of friends. Others, like me, limit their Facebook friends to friends and family from the real world. Our son was living in Japan when our first granddaughter Brianna was born, and photos and videos posted on Facebook kept us connected  during her first year. When Brianna took her first steps, our son and his wife captured it on video, and it was so exciting to share that special moment with them. In November they moved to Arizona and their second baby,,Julianna, was born in January. Julianna is now a month old, and we have followed her development through the photos posted on Facebook.

The more you use and interact with Facebook, the more you will discover. Many businesses, television and radio shows, artists, politicians, and celebrities maintain a presence on Facebook and urge customers, clients and audiences to follow them. There are games you can play (have you heard of Farmville?), and interest groups you can join. To sign up for a Facebook account, or just to see what it is all about, visit www.facebook.com, and, of course, there is also a Facebook app that lets you check your Facebook message on your smartphone.

Next week will be my last column for the 2011 season. We are heading west to see our beautiful granddaughters (and our son and his wife as well!). Facebook is nice, but there is nothing like being with our family in real life, and we cannot wait! 

This week — Twitter…

Shortly after submitting last week’s column I read a “Blondie” comic strip that was very timely. Dagwood asks his son how things are going with his girlfriend. The son replies, “We’re having communications difficulties! She keep telling me to call her or post something sweet on Twitter or Facebook! But I’s much rather just text her...” If you read last week’s column you know what texting is, but do you know about Twitter and Facebook? 

The word twitter was originally a verb used in conjunction with bird chirping sounds. The modern use of Twitter, however, is a noun that refers to  a “real-time information network” that allows anyone to send and receive short (140 characters maximum), bite-sized bits of information, called tweets.  It is a way to quickly discover news about subjects and people of interest, and to share your ideas, comments and thoughts with others. 

Before you can use Twitter, you need to create a free Twitter account by visiting the Twitter website (www.twitter.com), or by using the Twitter app on your smartphone. Once you have an account, you can sign up to follow the tweets sent by people or organizations that interest you. Messages from the accounts you are following will appear in a readable list on the Twitter homepage on your computer, or on the Twitter app on your smartphone. Instead of sending emails or text messages to a long list of people, you can send one message to your Twitter account, and the service distributes it to all your followers. Twitter users can organize impromptu gatherings, conduct group conversations, or just send up a quick update to let people know the latest updates or activities.

What are some real world examples of Twitter use? First, imagine that you are listening to a news show on the radio, such as the Diane Rhem show on NPR. Every morning the host, Diane Rhem, covers one current, newsworthy topic. During the show Diane Rehm invites listener questions and comments by telephone, Facebook and Twitter. If you find yourself talking to the radio in response to something you hear, now you can send a tweet instead.

Second, image that you belong to a the TR Bicycle Club and you find a route that you think would make a good ride for the club. Send out a tweet to the club members, who have registered with Twitter, and find out what they think before actually planning the ride. In another example, you have a close group of friends who follow each others’ tweets. You are taking a walk at TR and decide to head over to the Snack Shack for lunch. Send out a tweet on your mobile phone, and see if any of your friends want to join you. Finally, there is a celebrity or public figure who you really like. Sign up to follow them on Twitter and you will be privy to their constant tweets — or at least the Tweets posted by their publicist or press secretary.

Using Twitter isn’t for everyone, but it does have some real-world applications that are worthwhile. A recent article in the New York Times highlighted methods of dealing with flight cancellations after the December blizzard in the Northeast. People who followed their airline’s tweets had a much better chance of being rebooked then those who relied on the telephone and airline personnel. Following airline tweets was not something I have done in the past, but next time we fly, I am going to sign up and follow the airline on Twitter! 

Remember that tweets can also be immediate responses to events or thoughts. There have been recent reports of individuals in both politics and sports (as well as elsewhere), that have gotten themselves in “hot water” because of instant comments posted via twitter. Sometimes a little reflection, aka time, is a required filter than an immediate response.

If you want find out more about Twitter and how to use it, check out the Twitter Help Center at http://support.twitter.com/entries/13920-frequently-asked-questions. And if you are not interested in using Twitter, at least you have a frame of reference the next time you hear someone mention it on television — or when you are talking to your grandkids! 

Understanding Communications in 2011. And by the way, HRU…

Do you send text messages on your cell phone? If not, you probably don’t know what HRU means. It is a shorthand way of saying “How are you?”, and is one of the hundreds of abbreviations for words and phases used by people who send text messages, or “texts,” on their cell phones. 

In the last decade, the art of communication has changed drastically, mostly among the younger generations, and it is sometimes difficult for us "old-timers" to comprehend what is going on. Today’s teenager cannot imagine life without a cell phone, nor what it was like not be connected all the time, 24/7. With a cell phone you can make and receive phone calls anytime, anywhere, but in this era of fast paced communications, some people feel making phone calls is too slow . The youth of today want instant access to everyone, but without having to stop what they are doing. This is the age of multi-tasking, and “texting” plays a big part.

With “texting” anyone with a cell phone can type out a short message (text messages are limited to 160 characters), enter the phone number of another cell phone, and click send. The message is instantly relayed to the chosen recipient, who is alerted to the arrival of a text by a tone that sounds on their cell phone. Text messages can be sent back and forth while the participants are involved in other activities. (Unfortunately, one of the other activities is often driving, but more about that later). Because of the brevity of text messages, an entire vocabulary of abbreviations and acronyms has been created to make texting easier. Visit the website NetLingo to see page after page of popular shorthand for texting.

Those of us in our generation might think that it is actually easier to pick up the telephone and talk to someone. However, for reasons I am not able to completely understand, many younger people actually prefer texting to talking. My husband has resigned to texting in lieu of talking to our sons on a regular basis. With our younger son, who is in his late twenties, it is often the only way he communicates. If you can get him on the phone, he invariably says he doesn’t have time to talk, but he will send endless text messages on a variety of subjects. 

All of today’s cell phone have texting capabilities, although it is easier to text on a smart phone with a alphanumeric keypad than on a phone with a standard telephone keypad. On a standard keypad phone, each number key is also used to enter several letters, and you often need to press a key numerous times to get the letter you want. Of course, if you watch a young person texting, you will see both thumbs flying across the tiny cell phone keys without any hesitation. Texting is an "dish best served young".

Sending text messages does cost money. If your cell phone plan does not specifically includes text messages, you will be charged on a per-message fee, both for incoming and outgoing messages. However, if you do a lot of texting, most mobile phone carriers offer plans that include text messaging for a set fee. For example, AT&T has four choices for text messaging — 10 cents for each text message without a plan; $5 a month for 200 messages; $10 a month for 1,000 messages; $20 a month for unlimited text messages.

Which brings us to the concept of safe texting. Most authorities agree that it is not a good idea to talk on the phone while driving — but if you do use the phone, it is somewhat safer to use a hands-free device. In many states, it is against the law to use a cell phone while driving unless you are using a hands-free device. With that in mind, texting while driving is the even more dangerous than talking on the phone. I am sure you have probably passed a driver on the highway who appears distracted, maybe looking down at his lap with only one hand on the steering wheel. It is a strong possibility that the driver in question is texting and not paying full attention to the road. There isn’t very much we can do about this problem, except be aware that it is a problem, and to be constantly on the lookout for erratic drivers. 

 Until next week, when I will write about Tweeting and Social Media, GTGB.*

*Got to Go, Bye.

It is so much more…

The night before I sat down to write this week’s column we had some exciting news from Arizona — our daughter-in-law gave birth to our second grandchild, Julianna. Our son had his mobile phone with him in the delivery room, and he sent us photos of our beautiful granddaughter just moments after she was born. Of course, as a proud grandmother, I want to carry her pictures with me. Not too long ago I would be carrying snapshots, but now I have my iPhone.

The iPhone has an amazing high-resolution display, with a built-in photo app to store images. I try never to be without my phone, and I am therefore never without photos of our family. I regularly update the pictures of our first granddaughter Brianna, and now Julianna has been added to the album. As a photographer, I even keep a copy of my photographic portfolio on the iPhone, just in case I meet someone who might be interested in seeing my work.

Not only does the iPhone display photos, but it sports a very capable camera. Recently, when a professional photographer was asked what camera was best for taking pictures, he answered “it is the one you have with you.” As a an avid photographer, I cannot agree more. I like to always have a camera with me, and thus I have a very small, high quality, Panasonic Lumix point and shoot camera that I carry in my purse. However, I don’t always have my purse with me, and since I bought my iPhone, I find myself taking more pictures with the phone, even posting some of them to my Photo Blog at www.digitalquinn.com/photoblog. One blog visitor commented that the quality of the iPhone photos convinced them to buy the new iPhone 4G.

Here are a few examples of photos taken with my iPhone:

Besides taking photographs, the iPhone camera acts as a scanner in several different situations. If you are out shopping and want to compare prices, you can use apps such as Scan&Shop or Pic2Shop to capture the bar code of a product with your iPhone and you will be shown comparative pricing for the product at other stores or online retailers. Another app, Keyring, lets you scan or enter all of your loyalty cards on your iPhone. Next time you shop at CVS, just show the clerk your CVS card barcode on your iPhone and you are good to go.

Chase Bank has even added document scanning to their online banking. Using the Chase Mobile iPhone app, bank customers can take a photograph of the front and back of a check made out to them and have it deposited directly into whatever bank account they choose. Just in time for tax season, Intuit, makers of TurboTax Software, introduced SnapTax app. Users who file the 1040EZ form can take a photo of their W-2 form, and the app does the rest of the filing. The cost is $15 per filing, although for some unknown reason you must be under 65 years of age. The future of smart phones and financial transaction appear limitless.

Last year I wrote about receiving  a Kindle for Christmas 2009 from my wonderful husband. Now, in addition to my Kindle, I have the Kindle app on my iPhone. The app synchronizes with my Kindle, and I can download the same books to both devices. Why would I want to read a book on my iPhone? For the same reason that I use it to take photos, because I have it with me. If I find myself somewhere with time to kill, I can pull out my iPhone, open the Kindle app, and go to the book I am currently reading. The app automatically asks me if I want to go to the furthest page read, syncs to the appropriate page that I was last reading on my Kindle, and I am ready to read. The high-resolution screen, while small, is very legible, and as an avid reader I thoroughly enjoy having a book with me wherever I am.

Next week I will take a look a some of the other nomenclature I introduced in the first OnMouseClick of the season.

Why I love my iPhone…

Before I retired from teaching, I used a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to keep track of my calendar, addresses, and class lists. In fact, I was the proud owner of the first PDA ever, the Apple Newton. I used the Newton for several years, and when Apple let the technology flounder, I moved on to a Palm type device. I have to admit that sometimes using a PDA was more trouble than it was worth, and when I retired I found myself using it less and less. Finally, after some neglect on my part, my PDAs battery completely died and I put it to rest. 

I really didn’t miss using a PDA, that is until the iPhone was introduced in 2008. The promise of having all the mini-applications, or apps, available all the time, in a device that would fit in my purse or jacket pocket, was very intriguing. I definitely had iPhone envy, and now that I have an iPhone, I can only say that it is everything I thought it would be, and more. 

Just after I submitted last weeks column, I came across a phrase that is an excellent description of an app — a one trick pony. While most computer programs are fairly versatile, the small programs known as apps have one specific job, and the best of them do that job very well. 

Pre-installed on the iPhone are the basic apps that you would expect, such as an address book, calendar, notepad, clock, weather app, compass, mapping, email, and web browser. 

Contacts, the address book, lets me keep my contact list in groups, so if I need the phone number of a doctor, I can go to my Doctor group for his/her number. Both the Weather app and Clock app allow you to set up a number of locations. My Clock app is set to Eastern Standard Time and Arizona time (our son is living in Arizona), but if we were to be traveling I can easily add time zones from anywhere around the world.

Third-party free and paid Apps are available for the iPhone from the App Store through iTunes, a program that runs on both Mac and PC computers. Before Apple agrees to make an app available in its app store, it has to be vetted for quality. There have been complaints that Apple  censors some material, but with hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from, it is very easy to find an app to fit your needs. Most free apps feature ads, (with an upgrade version that has no ads but is not free) which is a good way to try an app out before buying it. The range of prices for most paid apps are from $.99 to $4.99.

Two apps that I purchased, and use constantly, are Grocery Gadget for my shopping lists and TapExpenses to tally my daily expenditures.  Grocery Gadget, comes with a pre-installed database of hundreds of items, and allows me to keep separate lists for different types of stores. For example, I have a list for local grocery shopping and more specific lists for both Walmart and Costco. I also wanted an app to keep track of how much money I spend, but I wasn’t looking for a full-fledged budgeting application; TapExpenses meets my need perfectly. Every time I spend money I can keep track of how much I spend, when, what it was for, where, and how (cash or credit). I can even call up a report anytime and immediately see what I spent by dates, categories, and stores.

Rounding out my list of useful apps I use regularly are apps for my ToDo List, serving sizer, cooking substitutions app, an app actually turns my iPhone into a small carpenter’s level (really, it works!), mapping (Google Maps on the iPhone are excellent), exercise monitoring, , and locating just about anything.

Next week I’ll complete my musings about “smartphones” and the iPhone with a bit more on using the iPhone to navigate the world around you. I have only discussed the iPhone because that is the only smartphone I have own. There are other smartphones available and although Apples has the most apps available, Google and others have thousands of useful apps for Android phones. 

There's an App for that…

As I begin to write today’s column I know that the local, outside temperature is 65° F., and it is also 43° F.  in Sierra Vista, AZ, where our son and his family are living. I know that because my “smartphone” has an app for that (app is short for application). In fact, my phone, an Apple iPhone 4g, seems to have an app for just about anything I can think of. I have apps for shopping lists, keeping track of daily expenditures, accessing email, viewing webpages, taking notes, looking up telephone numbers, finding businesses, and reading restaurant reviews, to name just a few.

Back in 2001 those of us with mobile phones used them for just one function — making and receiving phone calls. At that time another popular device was a Personal Digital Assistant, or PDA, which was actually a small, self-contained, handheld computers with built-in software for calendar, contact list, world clock, calculator, and note pad. Pagers were also popular in 2001, especially with business professionals, and it was fairly common to see someone with a cell phone, pager, and a PDA all clipped to their belt.

That began to change in 1999, when Research in Motion (RIM), a Canadian company, introduced an updated version of their Blackberry pager. The new Blackberry was a combination PDA and pager with a built-in, albeit tiny, QWERTY keyboard with the capability to send and receive email. The Blackberry became immensely popular, and in 2002 RIM introduced an updated Blackberry with the added capability for both voice and data transmission. The “smartphone” era had begun.

By 2006 the mobile phone market had changed drastically. Phones were becoming smaller, while at the same time increasing their diversity of  features, such as a contact list,  a calculator and a camera. These features were difficult to use on such a small device, and for serious “smartphone” users there was still only one real option, the Blackberry. Then, in January of 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone and the world of “smartphone” was instantly changed.

Apple’s phone featured a full size, touch-sensitive screen, made of scratch-resistant, liquid-crystal glass, with a high-resolution display, visual voice mail, and a two megapixel camera. In lieu of a physical keyboard, the iPhone featured a virtual QWERTY keyboard that filled the screen for typing and a virtual numeric keyboard for making phone calls.

What elevated the status of the iPhone were the many apps available for the device. The word app is short for application, but in terms of “smartphones”, apps are actually very small programs, each designed for a very specific task. While many apps access the web, they only connect to sites very specific to their task. The iPhone managed to carve a large market share, in spite of the limitation of being only available on the AT&T network — something that may have changed by the time this column is published. Reliable sources are expecting an iPhone announcement from Verizon the week of January 9.

Since 2007 the iPhone has been updated four times; the most recent iPhone was released last June. The newest iPhones are available with 16 or 32 gigabytes of memory, feature a five megapixel camera, and can connect to the internet through both a cellular network and WiFi. Until the first Android phones was introduced in 2009, the Apple iphone was the most versatile and efficient smartphone available. Android phones are very similar in appearance and function to the iPhone, and unlike the iPhone, are also available from a variety of carriers. 

As of this date there are more than 300,000 apps available for the iPhone and over 100,000 for Android phones, and there are many versions of the most popular apps that function on both platforms. In the coming weeks OnMouseClick will look more closely at apps, and how they can simplify your life. 

Making Facebook Yours…

FACEBOOK is many faceted, and as you use it you will discover numerous ways to customize it to fit your needs. One thing you will want to customize on your FACEBOOK page is a profile picture. 

Profile pictures appear in the top-left corner of the page and can be changed as often as you like. Most people choose a self-portrait, while others include pictures with family, friends, pets, or even a favorite landscape. My current profile picture is one of me with my two beautiful granddaughters, and the page of a good friend of mine features a picture of her cat.

To add a profile picture to your page, begin by choosing a photo on your computer hard drive. I suggest a close-up photo that will show up well in a small, thumbnail size. Open your FACEBOOK page and click the EDIT PROFILE button in the top right-hand corner. If at first you don’t see an EDIT PROFILE button, click on your name on the on the right side of the blue bar at the top of the screen.

The first screen to appear is BASIC INFORMATION, which can be filled in if you choose. Along the left side of the screen are other choices, one of which is PROFILE PICTURE. Choose PROFILE PICTURE and you will see an empty box just waiting for your picture. Depending on the browser you are using, you will see either a CHOOSE FILE or BROWSE button — click on it and navigate to the image you want to upload. After you have selected your image, click on OPEN or CHOOSE (again, which one you see depends on the browser you are using), and the photo will upload to your FACEBOOK page. Click on the HOME button and you will be back on your WALL page.

Your PROFILE PICTURE is now in place and you are ready to tackle adding comments and pictures for your FACEBOOK “friends” to see. Comments are what you want to say, and for every comment you can choose to add one photo, or a group of photos which will then be grouped together into an album.

To add a comment click in the dialog box at the top of the page that contains the words “What’s on your mind?” Type your comment and then click on ADD PHOTO / VIDEO. You will then be given the option of uploading a single photo (or video) or creating a photo album. If you choose to upload a single photo, navigate to the photo (or video) you want to upload, just as you did for the profile picture. If you choose album, navigate to the folder that contains your images (all of the photos must be in the same folder on your hard drive), and shift click on the photos you want to add to the album (by shift clicking you can select multiple photos at one time). Click on CHOOSE or OPEN (depending on your browser) and the album will be added to FACEBOOK and attached to your current comment.

If anyone has specific questions about using FACEBOOK, email them to me at onmouseclick@digitalquinn.com. The subject of next week’s OnMouseClick will be making video calls with SKYPE and YAHOO

A Primer for 21st Century Technology…

Happy New Year! We are now into the second decade of the twenty-first century. Just before New Years IBM published “Five Innovations That Will Change Our Lives in the Next Five Years.” As I read through the listed innovations, I thought they sounded pretty far fetched, but then I had to admit that much of the technology we are using today did not exist five years ago, and technology we used just ten years ago seems like a distant memory. In 2001 many households did not own a computer, the majority of people used the internet for little more than sending and receiving email, and social networking meant meeting new people at your boss’s Christmas party.

Fast forward ten years, and much has changed. Computers have evolved into a myriad of ubiquitous devices, and there have been major changes in the way we use traditional computers. To help bring TR residents up-to-date, I plan to devote the 2011 OnMouseClick columns to some of the aspects of technology that we couldn’t even imagine ten years ago.

To begin with, I made a list terms that you may or may not be familiar with. The words are listed here, and I will be defining them in my January and February columns. If you can think of something I missed, please let me know. You can email me at lsquinn@digitalquinn.com, or leave a message on the OnMouseClick blog at onmouseclick.blogspot.com

smartphone

iPad

iPod

iPhone

Android

Google

tablet computer

social networking 

Facebook

Twitter

texting

cloud storage

apps

social coupons

Groupon

eReader

eBooks

Kindle

blog

podcasts

IM

The first word on the list is “smartphone,” which is just what it sounds like — a phone is more than a phone. “Smatphones” can, among other things, send and receive email, display webpages, and display a personal calendars and address books.  Next week’s OnMouseClick will be devoted to “smartphones;” their evolution, how they work, and how they can be used effectively.

This week I want to share with you a website that you might not be familiar with, www.groupon.com. By definition, “Groupon” is a deal-of-the-day website, localized to major markets in the United States. “Groupon” enlists business to offer discounts that can be purchased online and redeemed at a later date. Once you register your email address and location, you receive a daily email with a local offer.

I’ve been receiving Groupon emails for a few months, and while I have only taken advantage of one offer, several others have been tempting. The one I did purchase was in New York, shortly before we left home. An outstanding bakery in a nearby town offered a $20 coupon for $10. I made the purchase online and printed the coupon. When I visited the bakery, just before we left for Florida, I bought $20 of breads and goodies for the trip south. Total cost to me was $10!

Now that we are in Florida I have opted to receive email offers in the Tampa area.  Today’s offer was for two hours worth of bowling, including shoe rental for up to four people at Liberty Lanes in Largo. Included for $29 was a large pizza and pitcher of soda. According to the email, the actual value of the offer was $61. A pretty good deal, if only I liked to bowl and it was closer to TR! 

This week - no online post…

I don't have this week's OnMouseClick available to post online, because… I had to write the column in longhand when my computer went on the fritz. The column appears in the March 5 edition of the TR Times, but it does not appear on my computer. The online OnMouseClick will be back next week. My computer has been repaired and is back in service. As you can imagine I really, really, missed it!

A change of plans…

If you read OnMouseClick last week, you know that this week’s column was supposed to be about optimizing your computer to run at the fastest speed possible. Instead, I am going to write about something that should be of concern to everyone who uses the internet — which I expect is almost all of us.

No matter what type of internet connection you use, the browser software installed on your computer deciphers code that is sent over the internet and creates the web pages displayed on your screen. If you use a PC running under Windows, there is a good possibility that the browser on your computer is Microsoft Internet Explorer, and by using it you could be placing your computer, and the vital information on your computer, at risk. A serious security flaw was discovered in all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, but this problem is most serious for users of an older version, Internet Explorer 6 running under Window XP.

In laymen’s terms, the vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer  can allow a hacker* to enter your computer remotely and at the very least cause the computer to crash. What has proved most troubling about the problem is that Microsoft was apparently aware of this problem in September, but it released a fix only after the media reported that computers at GOOGLE were attacked by Chinese hackers. It is widely believed that the security breach was possible because of a flaw in Internet Explorer.

While Microsoft has released a software update to fix the problem, your best alternative against future problems is to keep your browser software updated regularly. The most current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer is version 8, which runs on both Windows Vista and Windows 7. The pervious version, Internet Explorer version 7, runs on Windows XP and Vista. While the flaw in Windows Internet Explorer appeared in all versions of the software, the newer operating systems, Vista and Windows 7, protect computer systems in a more robust manner, and version 6 of the software was the most vulnerable.  

An alternative to upgrading to a newer version of Internet Explorer is to use one of the other available browsers, the most popular of which is Firefox. Firefox is very powerful, sports a user friendly interface, and and most users who have switched to Firefox claim they would never use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer again. As with all browser software, security flaws are periodically discovered in Firefox, but the developer, Mozilla, has been very proactive in identifying and patching the flaws. 

There are three other browsers in common use, Safari, Chrome and Opera. Originally designed by Apple as part of the OS X operating system, Safari now runs on both Windows and Mac computers. Google recently introduced Chrome, which has been gaining popularity since its release in July, and the final browser choice is Opera, a little know, but powerful application that is more popular for mobile devices. 

Whichever browser you choose to use, be sure to check for updates on a regular basis. Most browser updates are released for security purposes and by not keeping your browser software current, you are putting your computer, and the vital information stored on your computer, at risk.

Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera are all available as free downloads for Windows and Mac: Firefox (current version 3.6) www.mozilla.com/firefox, Safari version 4 www.apple.com/safari, Chrome version 5 beta www.google.com/chrome, and Opera 10.10 www.opera.com. 

*Hacker is a computer programmer who breaks into a computer systems and attempts to steal, change or destroy information.

Faster please, faster…

American is a fast paced society, and even us “retired” folks like things to work fast, especially when it comes to our computers. A complaint I often hear is “what can I do to make my computer run faster,” or “my computer seems to be running much slower than it used to.” This week’s OnMouseClick will attempt to analyze what makes a computer fast, or slow and next week I will describe what we can do to ascertain if our computers are running at their optimum speed.

At the heart of all computers is the microprocessor, and the speed at which it executes instructions is known as clock speed.  For some perspective, one gigahertz (GHz) is approximately a billion cycles per second, and a megahertz (MHz) is approximately one million cycles per second. In 1990 a fast computer ran at 4.47MHz per second, while today the slowest computers run at least 1GHz.  The higher the number of gigahertz, the more instructions a computer can execute per second, and the faster the computer will operate. Most of the computers on the market today operate at 1.2GHz to 3 GHz. However, the clock speed number is not the only variable in determining how fast a microprocessor preforms, nor is it necessarily the most accurate. Another variable to consider is if the microprocessor is a single or dual-core processor (as mentioned in an earlier column, some expensive computer also have quad-core processors). In simple terms, in a single-core system streams of information must be processed one at a time, while a dual-core system can processes two different streams of information simultaneously, speeding up the entire processes.

I am often asked if adding RAM (random access memory) will make a computer run faster, and the answer is a qualified yes. Most of today’s computers come with one or two gigabytes of memory installed, which is enough for doing basic tasks. However, if you regularly operate several programs at once, open a multitude of web pages, or work on photo, video, or audio editing, you put a strain on the installed RAM. When the computer requires more memory than installed, it 

resorts to using a portion of the hard drive as a virtual memory location, which slows down system performance. When more RAM is installed, the computer will run more efficiently, and will seem to run faster. 

The only problem with installing large amounts of RAM is that software cannot always take advantage of the increased memory. Computer systems run in either 32 or 64-bit mode, and 64-bit systems handle data more efficiently, and are capable of managing large amounts of memory. An apt analogy is to think of a highway—a 64-lane highway can handle many more cars than a 32-lane highway, but controlling the larger highway can be an onerous job. And so it is with with computing; system software must be optimized to run in 64-bit mode. The most current version of Windows, as with Vista before it, comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and which you install depends on the configuration of your computer.

Not all applications will run in 64-bit mode. If you are running current versions of software, you should not have any problems, but if you are running older applications (two or more years old) they may not work on a 64-bit system. If you are using an older application, check with the publisher to see if a newer version of the software is available. If you plan to upgrade to a Windows system, make sure you install the correct version for you system.

The question of 32 and 64-bit bit simpler for Macintosh users, since all recent Macs are 64-bit systems. The most recent operating system, OS X 1.6 (Snow Leopard) runs in 64-bit mode, but it is capable of running both 32 and 64-bit applications.

As promised in the TR Times ,the digital version of this column includes directions for finding out if  is 64-bit mode capable and if the installed version of Windows is 32 or 64-bit.

Is your computer 32-bit or 64-bit? Follow these steps to find out (works in Windows XP, Vista, & 7):

1. Open the START menu and select All PROGRAMS -> ACCESSORIES -> SYSTEM TOOLS -> SYSTEM INFORMATION
2. System Information will display information about your computer system in a SYSTEM SUMMARY. Look for the SYSTEM TYPE item.
3. SYSTEM TYPE will show one of the following:
• x86-based PC — this is a 32-bit computer system
• x64-based PC — this is a 64-bit computer system

My computer is 64-bit, how do I know Windows is running in 64-bit? Windows 7 runs on both system, so if you are running Window 7 on a 64-bit machine, you are good to go. For Vista and XP follow these directions:

1. Right-click on MY COMPUTER or COMPUTER, and then click on PROPERTIES.
2. If you see x65 Edition under SYSTEM you are running the 65-bit version of Window. If you do not see this, then you are running the 32-bit version.

If you want to upgrade your computer's memory, I recommend checking out the online memory reseller, Crucial. I have purchased from Crucial and the memory they sell is first-rate and their prices cannot be beat.

Looking into the crystal ball…

In the year 2000 the world was well into the information age, but I don’t think any of us could have foreseen the impact of technology at the end of the decade. Who would have imagined that by 2010 most of us would be doing our banking online, and that we could pay bills with the press of a key instead of by writing a check. An entire music library can be stored on an iPod, a device no bigger than a playing card and listened to at home, in the car, and in the gym. Thousands of books, magazines and newspapers can be stored on a digital reader like the Kindle, and new reading material can be downloaded in a matter of seconds. The internet has become ubiquitous, and for those of us with smart phones we can access it just about everywhere. 

Television sets are no longer picture tubes encased in cabinetry. They are the center of the home entertainment system with large, flat screens that can hang on the wall and display pictures in high definition. Most of the time our televisions are tuned into cable, which in most areas (TR cable excluded) means hundreds of available channels, even though there are times when little is worth watching! 

Playing movies on your TV has changed from VCR tapes to DVD discs to high definition Blu_ray discs.  It is now possible to stream movies and TV shows directly from the internet with a specially configured TV or attached Blu-ray player.  Video on demand is available for a per-movie fee from Amazon and Blockbuster, and unlimited streaming is part of a Netflix account. Eddie and I joined Netflix and bought a Blu-ray player two weeks ago, and we have been streaming movies directly to our TV ever since. 

We no longer get lost while driving, thanks to the GPS systems in our cars. Input the desired destination and the GPS system triangulates your current location and plots a route. Directions are given by voice (our’s is named Gertrude) and by a map display on the GPS screen. We also have satellite radios in our cars, and like cable TV choices, have a “limitless” choice of broadcasts that does not fade in or out while we travel. Live sports events back home, like the Yankees baseball games, are easily available, sometimes as part of a package or for an extra fee. Imagine a radio channel dedicated to Frank Sinatra available anytime, anywhere.

Finally, digital cameras have completely replaced film. The cameras we use today are much smaller than the ones we used a decade ago, produce higher quality pictures, and come with built-in features such as image stabilization, face recognition and high definition video.

Looking into the crystal ball, what will technology bring us in the future? Television sets may be things of the past, and will be replaced by an all-in-one large-screen device that plays television, streams movies, plays music, connects to the internet, and wirelessly uploads photos and videos from our cameras. It will also function as a closed circuit video device showing our home and surrounding property. Cars will not only have built-in GPS systems, but they will have built-in telephones and computer connections. The GPS will be able to read real-time traffic reports and make route adjustment reflecting up-to-the-minute changes in traffic conditions. 

I don’t really have a crystal ball, and the technology described in the previous two paragraphs are, in fact, reality today. Smart homes have been built and auto manufactures have already introduced cars with the features described. A hint of the future was introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 27 when he showed the world the iPad. The iPad, to be released in late March, is a tablet computer with a ten-inch touch screen weighing just over one pound. It is designed to provide information in a variety of ways; it will function as an e-book reader, like the Kindle, but it also can display video, browse the web, store and play music, and constantly update the front page of your favorite newspaper. It is too soon to tell if the iPad is going to become the next “it” device, but there is little doubt that it is a harbinger of the direction our digital life is going. It is an exciting time and the future promises major changes in our home, school, office, car and maybe some day here at TR.

I invite you to visit my photo blog at lindaslens.blogspot.com, My goal for 2010 is to post 365 photo and to share tips on getting better photos, 

All things Apple…

The first three OnMouseClick columns of the season discussed the necessary decision process if you choose to buy a new computer running Windows. Today’s column is all about Apple computers.

If you have an older Mac that still works well, what would make you consider buying a new one? If your hardware works fine, then you need to take a look at the software. Over the years, as computers have become more and more sophisticated, software has had to be upgraded, and even redesigned to keep pace. From 1993 to 2006 Macintosh computer were built around a Power PC microprocessor. In 2006 Apple introduced the first Macintosh with an Intel processor. The new processor has the ability to run faster, cooler and more efficiently, with the added advantage of being able to run Microsoft Windows and Windows based programs.

At the time the version of Macintosh operating system was OS X (pronounced O S TEN), version 10.4—code name Tiger. Apple introduces an upgrade of the operating system approximately every eighteen months, and in October of 2007 OS X 10.5 (Leopard) was released. Both Tiger and Leopard were backwardly compatible, and thus continued to work with both Power PC and Intel processors, and the software designed to work with them. Last August Apple released OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and support for Macs powered by the Power PC processor was eliminated. Anyone still using a Power PC Mac cannot run the most current operating system, nor can the computer run versions of software designed to work with OS X 10.6. Apple introduced many new features with Leopard, features that were refined with Snow Leopard. To take advantage of these features, a computer must be capable of running Snow Leopard. 

For anyone who wants a Mac, but also needs be able to run Windows software, an Intel Mac gives them that option. OS X comes with a program named Boot Camp, which enables the user to operate both the Macintosh and Windows operating systems and to decide which system to load at startup. There is also software available that allows you to run both Mac OS X and Windows simultaneously, with Windows appearing in a window on the Macintosh desktop.

Once you make the decision to upgrade, the choices are fairly simple. Unlike Windows, there is only one current version of Mac OS X. Whether you choose a desktop (iMac, Mac Mini or Mac Pro) or laptop (MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air) they all come with the exact same operating system installed.

If you are looking for a desktop computer, the most obvious choice is an iMac. An elegant, all-in-one computer and screen, there are four models, two with 21.5 inch screens and two with 27 inch screens. All four computers include four gigabytes (GB) of memory and either a 500GB or one terabyte (TB) hard drive (suffice to say that a 1 TB drive is very big), priced from $1,199 to $1999.

There are two distinct lines of Macintosh Laptops, the thirteen inch MacBook that comes with two gigabytes of memory and a 250GB hard drive with a base price $999, or the more powerful MacBook Pro. The MacBook pro comes in three sizes, a thirteen inch, 15 inch and 17 inch model. All but the lowest end model comes with four gigabytes of memory and range in price from $1,199 to $2,499. 

The best advice I can give anyone considering purchasing a new Mac is to visit one of the area Apple Stores, located in the International Mall near the airport or in Brandon Town Center. Plan to spend some time trying out each computer and choosing the one that is right for you.  After you make your purchase, you can get  help from the Mac users group, which meets on Tuesday’s at seven o’clock in the Citrus Center.