just an asterisk

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion about what “cloud computing” really means.

“Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information, are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the electricity grid.” (Wikipedia)

I’m a geek and the above, although well intentioned is about as easy to understand as the other buzzy language I hear on the topic.  Let’s write our own definition (in a few parts): Read more »

Question asked, question answered.  My friend Curt needed a solution for sending headshots through his Gmail – but Gmail doesn’t support images out of the box (that means until you do something to fix it).  Here’s how…  Hotel airconditionning makes for poor audio quality, but at least the content is there…

PS: Best of luck Curt with the auditions!

PPS:  You’ll probably want to make the video full screen…

~ab

I am a huge fan (addict) of novelty.  It’s the novelty of small changes to my routine that keeps my pace up, keeps me learning new things, and frankly, keeps me interested.  When it comes to exercise, this is especially true. In that vein, while I munch on my Apples and Cinnamon Quaker Oats (with spoon of peanut butter), I thought I would talk about some of the sites I’ve used in the past to track workouts.  Each is good for something, some are better at everything, but a full buffet of choices will help avoid boredom forever.

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Does your wireless ever drive you nuts?  Having trouble understanding why you get perfect signal in the kitchen but not in the bedroom?  I often promise that knowing a few geeky tricks will make your life easier.  In this case, I’ll prove it to you.  We’ll perform a few geeky moves and make your wireless woes disappear (or at lest help you understand them).

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As I see it, the world doesn’t need any more keyboards.  They are completely unavoidable these days… We have a keyboard on our computers, our phones, and even our iPods.  In a way, this was inevitable – the computer keyboard grew from the typewriter, which in turn was an invention spawned from the printing press, which was spawned from Chinese woodblock techniques going back to the 9th century (or even further).  I guess the added efficiency of reproducible characters is something we’ve been secretly exited about for a loooooooong time.

That doesn’t mean that we have chosen the best ways to go about it.  What is pretty comical about the QWERTY keyboard that we use today is this – when the typewriter was invented just after the US civil war the design was changed.

“The type-bar system and the universal keyboard were the machine’s novelty, but the keys jammed easily. To solve the jamming problem, another business associate, James Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters commonly used together to slow down typing. This became today’s standard “QWERTY” keyboard.” – Wiki article

I guess for all you who can’t type (or can’t type well) this is a relief.  You were never meant to!

Unfortunately, considering all of the different keyboards we see each day, I can think of three good reasons to type faster: Read more »

So your colleagues showed up at your desk with a bottle of beer or a Starbucks gift card or a little box with a bow and you’ve managed to suppress the BUT I DIDN’T GET YOU ANYTHING! for about the 10th time in one day.  Sigh… This is the holiday season in an office and although you love that people make the effort, you may feel a little overwhelmed buying even more presents (and for people you barely know outside of work).  The good news is that it’s completely avoidable.  You can arrive ready and not break the bank in the process.  The trick is to give everyone a custom tailored version of… the same thing.  This year, the price of digital media is so low, that I recommend a flash drive with portable apps.

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I know that YouTube video you received from your buddy at work was hilarious.  In fact, you’ve probably received so many at this point, that YouTube is synonymous with humor and/or embarrassment.  However, do you want to hear a little known secret about YouTube?  It’s not just for videos of cats riding on Roombas.  There are quite a few educational videos that could help you ace your next test, impress your friends, checkout faster at the supermarket or simply catch up on things you might have missed in school.

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I write this somewhat tongue-in-cheek as I’d never actually recommend doing graphics, let alone complex graphics in Microsoft Word. In fact I’d probably never write an article recommending doing word-processing in Microsoft Word. Yet I found myself in a position recently where I did just that (the former) quite by accident.

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