Get your point across with QR 2D codes.

    I am sure that you have seen many 2D codes recently, especially QR codes. It is because you can make as many as you like and they are easily readable by every smartphone. Heck, I know I have about 10 QR codes myself. Here is one that was made for my resume, it is a bit old though. The idea and the principle is always the same. The dots that you see in the matrix tell your phone the information that it needs. The three squares on the outside edges tell it how to align this particular QR code. These are being more and more widely used and can be found at web sites such as zxing.appspot.com/generator/ and qrcode.kaywa.com/ .  They are free of charge to create and can be a real asset to advertising as well as time saving.

   If you scan the above barcode with your smartphone barcode scanner (which you should have loaded as a standard application), you will learn my name, number, address, web site, memo, and company. There are many different QR codes as far as information is stored, and it is finite and not too large. The mere fact that we can make these in mass for free and use our phones to scan and save time is the magic that I see in this.

Google Chrome Extensions

   I am not certain if many of you have noticed, but as of a while ago, google has something called extensions on its browser called Chrome. These are extremely handy as they hardly slow down the browser (not noticeable) and they tend to inform you of many things as well as work as widgets.  One of the extensions that I love is something from a previous blog of mine.

  Yep, Evernote. The most amazing cross platform note taking utility to keep oneself organized. The sync is just about instant. As soon as I change my Evernote notebook on one computer, it also changes on my other computer and on both of my phones, one having the mobile version, and one having the touchscreen version. Pictures, clippings, and words all integrate very well. I have not had a problem yet aside the fact that the full version is $5 a month. I would be willing to pay $19 per year for the full version. $5 a month just adds up to a LOT. I think that is one flaw that Evernote has. I am certain that they just want the equivalent of what they collect in advertising from the free version to remove it and give you more, but it is just not normal. There are hardly any applications that cost that kind of money. If it was at least cut in half as far as price, say $2.49 a month, that would entice me to purchase it. Given how expensive it is, I solely want to use the freeware version.

It looks very different on all version but still very simplistic for something that does so much for you. This thing has saved me from missing an appointment before. It is a complete necessity in today’s world of multi-tasking and synchronization.

Above you can see how I took my tones before. A big whiteboard, sticky notes, and posted notes with a pin were my thing despite having multiple electronic resources to store my calendar on. The problem was they they were not synchronized between all of my devices. The few that were, like my Gmail calendar, did not offer me enough things to do what I needed to do with it, such as clipping and attaching pictures, making extreme changes, and going across all platforms that I choose seamlessly and quickly.

New Phones and new tablet PCs. What to do with a computer?

  Although we find ourselves gravitating towards all these other electronics that make our lives easier, we have to remember that computers where what has brought us this far and they are not going anywhere permanently. I may have an EVO 4G, which has caused me to stop carrying around my laptop for tethering wherever I went just to get full web browsers, not the “mobile” versions of them, especially with no flash. We are not quite close to 100% of site being HTML5 yet.

  Where does a computer fit these days? Many people would argue that it is mostly viable for game playing and upgrades. There is nothing easier to upgrade than a full case computer. We have gone down in requirements for hardware since the last O.S. (Vista) has been refined into what it should have been, Windows 7. Will Windows 8 cloud architecture help in rendering and other areas to where the user need not upgrade their PC? Or will someone will all 5 rating be forced to upgrade during Windows 8? Only time can tell and right now we see the cloud trying to just bring all of your devices together so that they remain synchronized across the Internet without being compromised by hackers.

There will be more on this subject. This forum will soon be linked to www.networksetupandrepair.com . It is an information site as well as a servicing site. We do not charge anything for our information unless we are specifically training you in how to save money on technology.

Android: To change Launcher or not / using third party apps from other providers. Smartphone Learning, which smartphone operating systems is easiest to learn?

  The little thing that you see at the bottom of your android phone, which usually brings up call features, the application log, and so forth, can be changed and altered. This is some I would NOT recommend given the fact that many launchers have proprietary software written in that corresponds to their respective hardware. I for instance, have a special Sprint version of Android 2.2 on my EVO with HTC Sense. I would not try another launcher because I do not want to lose any capability of being tied into my sense.

  On the other hand, hoping that you do not root or jailbreak (iPhone only) you phone, there are things that you think you cannot do but you can actually can with an Android phone. Many smartphone carriers will put in their own special little software into “their” Android market that you access from your phone. Well, most of these can run on any Android. So if you have a T-mobile Android, changes are you wont want the sprint TV app as it will not work, but many other sprint applications that are not tied into the service plan will.

  This is something I highly recommend playing around with as far as an Android phone is concerned. It is a very simple phone to learn, I would say #3 on the list of smartphones. 1) iPhone …you cannot get simpler than this. If you have serious trouble learning it, please visit  networksetupandrepair.com and setup a technology session with me. 2) Windows Mobile 6.5 –7 …easy to learn because people are so used to Windows  3) Android – being a new smartphone O.S. , Google made this as easy to learn as possible and integrated it into its “Cloud” environment to make things seamless for the user as far as synchronization is concerned. For the average person, this should be ok. 4)  Blackberry 4-6 O.S.,  by far the most efficient yet complex operating system for a smartphone is the Blackberry O.S. It is more complex and less pretty than the others but has so many benefits to offer that I have one despite having an EVO 4G. Yes, I am insane, I do have 2 smartphones as well as 2 computers for testing, one for virtualizing domains.

   A Blackberry offers many users the push button interface that they are so used to. The new torch will have a pull out qwerty keyboard as well as a touchscreen, making it a nice tool for media and corporate use. The blackberry compresses its information over special blackberry servers and decompresses on your phone so that you get maximum use with minimum bandwidth. The battery life is exceptional. So , although it is difficult to learn, it offers many other things, such as corporate security and less bandwidth use. If you play enough with it, you will eventually get addicted to it, that is why they are called the crackberry.

Choosing a Phone Provider is No Longer the Same thing it used to be. Data plans combined with voice plans…what should you do?

   Many different scenarios now play a role in what kind of plan you are choosing for your smartphone if you are switching from a “carrier” phone (I.T. lingo for a dial only device). The only thing that you had to worry about before was how many minutes, maybe even texts you are using.

  Prepare yourself, as now you must choose between 3G and 4G bandwidths, tethering phones to laptops to get the Internet anywhere without having to get an “air” card to get the same speed, and serious provider coming to the realization that not many people are going to pay a lot for minutes anymore as we all know that it does not cost an arm and a leg to make calls over Data services (the Internet) using VoIP technology (Voice over Internet Protocol). I believe if you have a Skype phone, you can make unlimited calls from anywhere Internationally. This involves a 6.99 a month plan and about 12 dollars to shell out to have a number but those are insignificant costs. $7 for paying to call anywhere in the world. Depending on whether you are an iPhone user or a Verizon customer, depends on if you can use Skype over 3/4g or only Wi-Fi in the U.S. Apparently , only apple and Verizon were able to purchase the Skype version that works over 3/4g.

  The truth is, phone companies are realizing that data is the next generation. People no longer need all these pretty texts, nor multimedia messaging services, it can all be done over the data services already provided by your phone company. That is why it is important to keep in mind the many ways one can call through a phone such as an Android 2.2 or a blackberry. Depending on carrier, there are many different ways to use data services, which you should have unlimited, unlike minutes which are almost unnecessary as you can use other services such as google and google voice callback or skype to talk to people without using any call mitues. Everything can now be done over the Internet infrastructure without touching a landline tower unless one is being called or receiving a call from one. Companies know this and will soon have to impose different speeds and different plans for data. More data diversity is key as the consumer knows how to get around using calling through regular voice and keeps using VoIP.

(to be continued)

New Android Flavor for Syncing

   Hi, I am writing this to help everyone organize their lives with EVERNOTE. It is a nice little note taking utility that I found on the android market. It is fully cross platform, meaning you can install it on your computers and on your phones (be they a blackberry or android) and whatever you write in your notes will sync with all the other devices. There is no reason to even save.

  The application has become so popular that there are actually other applications to augment that app. You can get a tool for your chrome (evernote extension) which allows you to clip web pages (full or partial) to your notes. That is on top of the fact that the program already lets you save pictures as well as videos next to your notes.

  It is very useful to take notes, especially if you get the extension or add-on for chrome and Firefox. You can also get chrome to phone, and phone to chrome extensions for your android and computer. This allows you to take full screen clippings for your notes.

Michael’s Technology Ramble

 

  This is my personal channel to explain technology growth to most individuals in a way that they may understand what is going on, and why it is happening so fast.

  Most people are under the impression that going from 32 bit to 64 bit means that we doubled whatever it is that computing devices can do. This is untrue and a myth. Going from 32 bit to 64 bit is about the same as going from 3 to 2000. That is because on a 32 bit physical (not virtual, actual box) computer, you could only have a max of 3 gigs of RAM that your computer would recognize. Now, a single physical computer can make use of 2000 gigs for RAM. This is what makes the new Data Center servers so lucrative to move to. You can probably eliminate about 300 servers per one Data Center.

  One can only imagine the cost saving that this will bring. Not only as far as electricity, but computers being able to run massive programs. Also, the cloud is coming.

  I know, you keep hearing this world “cloud” . It used to just mean the Internet. Now it is called “cloud computing”. This involves a third party augmenting anything you are doing on your device with their servers (called server farms). I am certain that many people have noticed that if you make yourself a Windows Live Account, you get a skydrive. That is simply storage that Microsoft gives you for you to store your files offline and access them from any computer. What is nice is that microsoft has already released Live mesh. which comes with windows live essentials. This program actively keep all of your devices synchronized with the same information depending on what it is that you chooose to sync.  The cloud computing part is that not only can you store things offline, but Microsoft has decided to give everyone with a Windows Live account a toned down version of   Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010. You can easily use this version and not even purchase Office 2010. However, because Office 2010 comes in a 64 bit format, I would strongly recommend purchasing it. Everything is instant when it comes to Office 2010 as long as you have a decent computer with a rating of 4+. I have not tested windows 2010 64 bit on any machine with less than a 4+ windows experience index. Although that index is not fully accurate and I would encourage people to use a serious benchmarking software.

Exam 291 and Windows 7

No point in getting to MCSA or even MCSE at this point without 10 years of experience. No one will let me run a damn Data Center anyway, why bother. May as well go after smartphone certs, next step in computing.

Laptops a thing of the past. Tablets and 4.3″ phones :D.

Until recently , I carried my Laptop everywhere I went so that just in case, I could tather it to my blackberry or android 1.6 phone. Well, now I have an EVO 4G Android and I no longer need to carry my laptop with me anywhere. This practically is a mini laptop. I believe that the mini laptop stage is about to get skipped over and everything is going to go tablet or phone.