Cool(ing)! 'Cause it's spring..and it's still cold

Hey all, I go to Utah State University... which means that it still feels cold a lot of the time even though it's almost May. And this has nothing to do with the article I read, but it had the world "cool" in it, which made me think of it (welcome to my mind?).

So! Cooling. Liquid versus Fans. Which one is better? Well, it depends on your needs. And budgets. And craftiness. Super sweet article at pcworld, and one of the easy benefits of liquid cooling is the sound. It's very quiet, especially compared to these fans we've been using forever. Air cooling benefit? Very cheap, reliable (hey, we've been using them for forever). More liquid benefits is the efficiency of it. The biggest drawbacks though are the cost and how much work goes into attaching it to the right parts correctly. If you've ever been curious about cooling options, this is an easy-read article, and you should check it out.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028293/liquid-cooling-vs-traditional-cooling-what-you-need-to-know.html

Robots - iPhone Robots

I was skimming through articles on Wired.com, and I saw one that said something about the common man’s robot being headless… so I decided to check it out. The article started out discussing how we have all these cool technological devices in our homes, but no robots, even though that was a big thing of the sci-fi future before. This group got together and created a base (with wheels, so it’s movable) for an iPod/iPhone. You download the Romo app (that’s what the robot is called), and it gives the device a face, and it’ll even change features and track you with the sensor. They’re working on creating a lot more advances for it, such as facial recognition between family members and friends, so that it has a “personality”. You can control your Romo with another iOS device, so you could potentially use your outdated phone as the “brain” and face of the Romo, and your current phone as the controller. It looked like they’re even attempting to bring this to the Android market, as well. I think it’s really interesting how our smartphones have become central to our lives, and this is just an example. Our phones are finding ever more uses in our lives and how they interact with us daily. The hardware and the software is there, we just have to learn how to apply it all in a way that is affordable for the “common consumer”. One of the great things about this is that the team opened up the software coding and everything to let other developers create programs that are compatible with Romo, and thereby making it even better and a bigger part of the consumer’s life. One of my favorite parts about the article was the video at the end that gave a spiel about Romo, which I have included a link to on this page.

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/02/common-mans-robot/
http://vimeo.com/51263340#

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office: the software that has always been “needed”. In fact, I’m using it right now for assignments such as this. I’m using the Office 2010, while the Office 2013 was just officially released. I have always loved Office, but as times are changing, I don’t think I will go for it again. They’ve turned it into subscription applications, instead of the buying-once perpetual license. If you discontinue your subscription, then you are unable to create or edit documents and you will only be able to view and print them. This makes your application almost worthless. You can store your documents on the SkyDrive, and you’ll have access to your documents in multiple locations. They’re not technically stored in “the cloud”, but it sure feels that way. So while I have loved Microsoft Office for years, when it comes time for me to upgrade, I will probably stick with a free source that performs the tasks I need, such as Google Drive or OpenOffice. I am not willing to go to a subscription service for my Office suite, while I am willing to shell out some extra cash to buy it and have that version forever. Maybe I’m old-fashioned that way, but it’s the way I bought all of my games and software before, and I loved it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026564/microsoft-office-2013-is-here-hands-on-impressions-and-buying-advice.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026981/microsoft-office-subscription-plan-sparks-questions-and-here-are-answers.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2027057/four-reasons-you-dont-need-the-new-microsoft-office.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026666/not-ready-for-office-2013-here-are-five-open-alternatives.html

Post-World Backup Day: Hardware

World Backup Day was last Sunday (March 31)! So it's been about a week. I found a handy article about backup drives (although it didn't include information about backup software). It recommends getting a backup drive that is at least double your hard drive size. So if you have a 500GB hard drive, then get a 1TB backup drive. The article also goes through some options of the hardware of backup drives. Maybe my next post will be about software? Now, speaking of World Backup Day... I think it's time for me to go and backup all my data. My laptop is a little aged, so it's always good to be prepared!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2032508/in-honor-of-world-backup-day-how-to-protect-your-data.html

Note Taking Apps: 3 Big Options

I got on PCWorld to start reading through some articles, when in the top left corner there was a highlighted article that mentioned Evernote and OneNote. Both are products that I love to use. Then it mentioned something about “Google Keep”. Judging from the title of the article, I could guess what the purpose of it is pretty easily. The note-taking, notebook market is pretty much dominated by Evernote and Microsoft OneNote. Google has decided to enter the market, though, with their own app. This article compares all three products to each other to try and determine which ones are the best fits, and it even puts all the information in a handy table at the end of the article.

As it is, I feel like Google Keep is very young. It has yet to form the powers and functions that put Evernote and OneNote at the top of their game. Google Keep needs some more time to realize how users will take advantage of a note-taking program. I love OneNote, but it’s very limited to the way I live my life: I mainly use my iPhone for all my note-taking needs, I don’t always have my laptop, and I don’t have Office 365 (I don’t know if I ever will). OneNote has the best text editor (think about who created Word… yeah, it’s good), but, as it is, it’s limited to my laptop. Google Keep isn’t quite as flexible yet, and it’s only available for Android, not Windows Phones or iOS. Evernote, on the other hand, has a web service, a program you can download on your laptop/desktop, a dedicated app for all devices, and an entire “ecosystem” of apps, such as Skitch, Evernote Food, Evernote Hello, Penultimate, etc. They all sync to your Evernote account, which can make it an indispensable tool in your life. I feel like Evernote is still the best option. Unless you’re a die-hard Google or Microsoft fan and will take anything they create over another product, Evernote allows the most flexibility while still providing a high-quality service. They have options for both personal and business organizational needs, and they provide a great managing system. Evernote has created a niche for themselves, and I feel like their software and apps will be used for a longer time than some of the “fad” apps.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2031818/google-keep-vs-onenote-vs-evernote-we-name-the-note-app-winner.html

Twitter Chat

Twitter is used for connecting. It is used for socializing, sharing, and speaking to the world around you. Hashtags such as #CloudChat used by IBM to discuss cloud computing, is an example of a Twitter Chat. It's easy to get a lot of input using it, and it's easy to share with the world your ideas. However, it's based on Twitter and all of those limitations that it implies. Twitter has 140 character limits, and it can be difficult to ask a complex question within that space, let alone answer it. It's easy to find ways around those limits, but it's not always ideal. I absolutely adore Twitter, though, so I think that Twitter Chat is a great tool for those of us who spend probably way too much time on it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2032657/listen-for-the-next-big-thing-on-twitter-twitterchats.html

Shortened Links

This is definitely an article that I needed to read, so I'm glad that I took the plunge to click on it. It's about those handy little links that are abbreviated. Twitter uses it a lot, which is understandable since there's a limit of 140 characters per tweet. I never thought about the potential security risk these links could cause, though. You never know where the links could take you, as the usual obvious details are hidden, and they could be Trojan links. There is this really cool extension, though, called "Unshorten.it" for Chrome and Firefox. It allows you to right click on one of those shortened links, and you can "Unshorten this link...", which will take you to a new page where it can tell you all of the information about that link. It's a super handy extension, and there's a link to installing it within the article below. I highly recommend everyone at least consider using it for daily use.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013522/peek-behind-abbreviated-web-links-with-unshorten-it.html

TrueCrypt vs. .Zip

I have never heard of TrueCrypt, but this article helped explain it to me. It's similar to an encrypted .zip file, but the author of the article really loves it. It's secure, and it's a "TrueCrypt vault' - which is seen as a virtual drive. There were a lot of pros and cons to it, such as the TrueCrypt vault is set in its size, while a .zip file can expand and compress as needed for which files are in it. The author of this article brought out some good points for both TrueCrypt and .zip files.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2016558/answer-line-truecrypt-vs-encrypted-zip-files.html

Evernote was Hacked!

Oh no! Evernote is my favorite ever! They are requiring every single user to go in and change their password, which is a smart move on their part. It seems that it was a coordinated attack and that Evernote blocked the attacked when it noticed the suspicious activity. According to their blog, none of the data was accessed, changed, or lost, and none of the payment information was accessed either. Evernote posted in their blog some basic steps that you can take to protect yourself, for those who don't have any experience with security, and they've made it so you have to login and change your password before you can access your data and sync it up again. For more information about this exploit, you just need to check out their blog and any articles that may be about it!

http://evernote.com/corp/news/password_reset.php
http://www.techhive.com/article/2029974/evernote-reports-hack-attack-tells-users-to-reset-passwords.html

Protecting Your Wi-Fi

This article gave instructions of how you should change your wi-fi password. The nitty-gritty details weren't what I was too interested in, but I did enjoy that they pointed out that even the password to your network will need to be changed often, not just the ones to your accounts on online sites. People can still cause damage to you if you're not protecting the access to your network, so it's good to make sure that you have taken every necessary precaution to protecting yourself. It's not easy to have everyone in your household go and change their password, and they may all get really annoyed with you, but the protection that you gain from it is worth it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2026340/change-your-wi-fi-password-on-various-devices.html

Encryption

I found some really fun articles (when browsing through PC World) about how to encrypt your data and protect your laptop. They recommend passwords, but passwords can be easily broken, so even that shouldn't be your only protection. It's a basic protection procedure, much like locking your door in your home; it's not perfect, but it's a good first step.

There are some really great backup software possibilities out there, too! They mentioned Dropbox, and that is a great way to keep some documents safe. Again, though, that's typically protected by only passwords. Some other great backup software is Carbonite and Acronis. They're both going to cloud storage data, and I have heard amazing reviews for Carbonite. Check 'em out if you're looking for backup options!

My favorite back-up plan: I have an external 2TB hard drive that I use only for my backups of all my data. Only problem is when I forget to update it, which is when the cloud backups like Carbonite and Acronis come in handy.

Anyway, I hope that you guys have fun, and you should check out these articles!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025462/how-to-encrypt-almost-anything.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2025897/a-road-warriors-guide-to-locking-down-your-laptop.html