For those of you who downloaded Firefox 3.0, you should be receiving notices of an update to 3.01 any time now. As this is a security update, you need to get this as soon as possible, if you do not see an auto update announcement from Firefox soon, please do the following:
Go to “Help” up in the toolbar
Click on “Check for updates”
The system will handle the rest, and all you will be left to do is restart the browser for the update to take effect.
This is a good chance to also remind you that you need to check on your extensions/add-ons every so often to make sure they are all up to date. You do the following to check on them:
Go to “Tools” up in the toolbar
Click on “Add-ons”
Click the button for “Find updates”
And the system will handle most of the rest with you following the on screen prompts.
We talked about getting free blogging accounts, but what if you want to venture out on your own, and set up your own blog on a web host of your choosing?
There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to running a site on your own hosting account, but there is certainly a lot of freedom it gives you. As we mentioned in the free blogging post, you have a lot of limitations placed on you from the blog hosts in the sense of what themes you can use, how many images you can post, no advertising allowed on some and, worst of all, he inability to have your own domain name.
A hosting account will allow you to do all of these things we mentioned, which definitely belong in the “pros” column, but in the “cons” column comes a lot of self maintenance. When you install something like WordPress, it can usually be installed by the web hosts automatic script installers like Fantastico or SimpleScripts, but you will be responsible for making sure that you keep the software up to date as well as being responsible for your own security.
Personally, I find it a much better to run your own hosting account because it gives you so much more freedom. Of course, there is then the question of who you should pick as a host, and for that I recommend the article, “How to select a web hosting service” that I wrote another site I no longer work for. Again, it can be a lot of work, but most serious bloggers will tell you this is the best solution, especially in the long term.
We have talked before about how to do varioustasks in Firefox, but why should you use this alternate browser?
All Windows-based computers ship with Internet Explorer (IE) installed, and according to numerous web site statistics, most people choose to stick with that since it is the easiest solution for people to begin browsing the web immediately. However, due to the high market penetration, and lackluster security features, IE is a popular target with hackers, heightening the possibility you will get infected with something by using it.
While there are other alternatives out there, Firefox is the most popular choice due to its open-source nature. For those unfamiliar with the idea of open-source, it is a system by which anyone is allowed to download the source code for a program and work on it. Due to the very nature of open-source, if a security problem does happen, they are fairly fast to react and release an updated version to take care of the problem.
One of the best things about Firefox is the extensions and toolbars you can add to it to customize it even more to your use. This is another benefit to open-source projects is that it makes it easier for people to make extensions, add-ons and plugins for the program, extending it’s usefulness by just that much more.
This isn’t to say everything is wonderful in the world of Firefox. While the extensions are great, the more you add, the slower your system will go. It also has a problem with “memory leakage” in that the longer you have it turned on, the more of your computers resources it takes up. They are working on the leakage problem, but you need to monitor yourself on how much you install extension-wise.
Even with its faults, everyone at StarterTech is a firm believer in Firefox, and we highly recommend it.
I have to make a hotel reservation in a hurry. I usually plan things out weeks ahead but this trip requires a night out that I didn’t plan. To top it off my destination is for a town that I have stayed in before but not for many years. I have no idea what is available there so where do I start?
Generally if I know where I am going and I have been there recently I start with the web page of my favorite hotel chain. When I have some questions though, I start with Yahoo! in the travel area. Just enter the name of the city at the prompts and there you are. Typically you will find listings for each hotel in that town/area and you will be able to view costs and reviews on the same pages. I must admit I hardly ever make reservations through the avenues provided there as I want to make sure I am getting the very best price. So, after my initial searchings I go to the web site of my chosen hotel and ask for all of my discounts like AAA or AARP and do a final search on that site.
I know what you are saying—what about Hotels.com or Travelocity? Well, I would love to but I travel with a 7’ by 14’ cargo trailer and those sites never give parking info. I can’t pull up at a hotel in the dark and no place to park my rig. So I don’t use them and I even call the hotel I choose from my favorite websites if I have never stayed there before just to check on the parking lot!! Hysterical, huh? No, hysteria is driving into a parking lot and not being able to park or get out!! I do not like surprises!!
So you may ask what does this have to do with Starter Tech? Well, it is pretty simple—it is all about taking the frustration out of using the web. In this case the web is my dear friend as I really hate calling a hotel reservation service and having them ask me ad infinitum if they can make a plane reservation or order me a car. All I want is place to lay my weary head and park my rig—simple, simple, simple. The web allows me to do just that—KISS—keep it simple stupid. I love it!! Try it, embrace it—you will love it too!
Asking for even more emails in your life may seem odd, but sometimes they can be extremely useful.
Why do I picture Heartgard with a post about emails? Well, this is the sort of emails I’m talking about in that sometimes company emails can be the type that remind you of something that you need to do. I have three cocker spaniels, and with as busy as I am, I must admit that I forget some of the little things in life like giving them their heartworm medicine. So, once a month I get an email from the company to remind me that I need to give it to them.
There are numerous types of businesses that will do this, such as credit cards, electrical bills and so on, but then you run the problem of getting an overflowing inbox that is impossible to control. So, solution number two is to set up an email account just for those types of mails. True, you have to remember to log into that account to check it, but I just make it part of my daily regimen to check it, and that way those emails are separated from my normal correspondence, letting me retain what little of my sanity is left.
Sure, it’s always better to remember stuff for yourself, but in this day and age, let some of the little things be handled for you.
In a recent post I spoke of using canned air and Swiffers to rid your keyboard and electronics items of the hard to get to dust that seems to accumulate. In this post I would like to expand on the use of Swiffers in my seemingly never-ending dust battle.
I am sure that there are days when you, like I, sit in front of your computer monitor in complete amazement at the thick coating of dust that just seems to be always there. We are not nuts, we are not caught in a time warp—we are living with a fact of electronic life—electronic anything collects dust a rapid rate. It appears that the very electronic gizmos that run our computers also generate the static that collects the dust in thick sheets. It is a never-ending battle and I am always on the hunt for a simple solution.
It seems that I have finally found my answer in the shape of a little rectangle of ‘fake’ cloth (I really don’t know what it is). Swiffers were designed to allow housewives to dust without having to polishes and oils to make their furniture dust free. The one step process would make it seem as though the work was not hard—one step instead of two.
While I have used the Swiffer product line for just this reason the real workouts come when I need to clean my computer equipment. The dust just clings to all of it—the CPU, the keyboard and most of all the screen of the monitor.
My son has probably told me a million times not to use any solutions on anything to try and grab the dust, and that is especially true for my monitor. I have just about gone nuts trying to use a dry cloth (old diapers don’t even work well) to clean the screen and all it seemed to do was move the dust around. Then came Swiffers! I turn off my monitor and with Swiffer in hand I can wipe the screen and the dust clings to the Swiffer cloth—yes, the dust clings! It is a beautiful sight as dust is a virtual enemy of electronics and has been winning the cleaning war for long enough. This process will also work on your TV screen—just be sure to turn the TV off first or you will cause more of the dreaded static and the dust will win again. And while you are in a cleaning mood don’t forget the mini blinds—Swiffers work great there too.
What is this symbol that you see on blogs all the time, and what does it do? This is the accepted symbol that indicates where you need to click to subscribe to a website’s Real Simple Synication (RSS) feed.
In the old days of blogging, you had to go to your favorite blogs and check them, sometimes multiple times a day, to see if they had added new content to their site. In 1999, the first version of RSS appeared, changing the way people accessed their favorite blog information forever. Instead of having to go to the site to see the newest info, you could now have it delivered to an RSS reader, such as Google Reader, as soon as a new article is published. With the content being delivered to you, you could now keep up with far more blogs than ever before, in much less time than it used to take to check just a few.
Now, anytime you see the symbol shown here to the right, it means the site offers a feed that you can subscribe to and have it added to your reader. Why not subscribe to our feed right now and be guaranteed of getting all of our future tips? This is also a good time to learn about it as May 1st Is RSS Awareness Day, where blogs all across the Internet will take time that day to discuss the merits and benefits of what RSS can do for you as a user.
When you log on to the Internet, do you sometimes feel like people are talking some language that you have never heard of? Quite often, they are. The web is full of shorthand comments that “old timers” such as myself know just as well as any real word, but may be puzzling to a new user, and sometimes asking people to explain can be embarrassing.
This list is very general, and lots of online communities have their own abbreviations that are specific to them. For instance, Joker’s Updates, a popular site for the CBS series Big Brother has a whole page dedicated to their specific acronyms. Anytime you think you may have run across one that may be community-specific, look at the context it is used in, and quite often you can figure it out. If not, look around for an explanation page like we just linked to. If all else fails ask, and no matter how snippy a responder may be, just remember that they were once a new user just like you, so they have nothing to be uppity about.
AFK – Away From Keyboard (meaning the person has walked away for a bit, or was away)
This is but a sampling of the ones you can find scattered around the web. Don’t see the one you want to know? Leave us a comment and we will do our best to tell you what it means!
For those of you who downloaded Firefox 3.0, you should be receiving notices of an update to 3.01 any time now. As this is a security update, you need to get this as soon as possible, if you do not see an auto update announcement from Firefox soon, please do the following:
We talked about getting 
I have to make a hotel reservation in a hurry. I usually plan things out weeks ahead but this trip requires a night out that I didn’t plan. To top it off my destination is for a town that I have stayed in before but not for many years. I have no idea what is available there so where do I start?
Asking for even more emails in your life may seem odd, but sometimes they can be extremely useful.
In a recent post 
When you log on to the Internet, do you sometimes feel like people are talking some language that you have never heard of? Quite often, they are. The web is full of shorthand comments that “old timers” such as myself know just as well as any real word, but may be puzzling to a new user, and sometimes asking people to explain can be embarrassing.
