SteveMart.in

This is my list of technologies that you should never use or you will be in for it. The problem with these technologies is that they are too nice to be without once you have tried them. So, you can either take my word for it and stay far away from these technologies or try them and forever be hooked. They are in no particular order.

Cell Phone – I got my first cell phone back in 1998 when Sprint had a promotion for 100 minutes at only $10 per month. What a deal! I was going to finally have a cell phone and it was going to be so cheap. That is until you find out how long 100 minutes really is. You go through 100 minutes in no time at all. Especially because they didn’t offer any evening weekend minutes or Sprint to Sprint minutes. It was 100 minutes total. When I would check my voicemail, it used up minutes too. I was very careful with my minutes at first, and then I just had to have more so I upgrade my plan and am now up to a family plan with 3,000 minutes shared among 6 phones with unlimited evening weekend and Sprint to Sprint. I also have a Sprint datacard for my laptop. So, while Sprint gave me such a great deal up front, they have probably made plenty of money since. Good marketing Sprint. So, be warned, if you get a cell phone, you will not be able to not have a cell phone.

DVR – A DVR (Digital Video Recorder) changes the way you watch TV. The brand of DVR that you probably know the best is Tivo. They revolutionized the concept and made it so simple for anyone to use. Most of the major manufacturers of electronic equipment have some type of DVR available and you almost can’t subscribe to satellite without them throwing in a free DVR. I am stationed in the Microsoft camp for my DVR using a Windows XP Media Center PC. I find that having a computer be the DVR, I can utilize it for so many other things as well. The concept is very simple, a DVR has a schedule of all of the programs available from your TV provider (you tell it which provider you use). You run through the schedule and tell it what to record and whether to record it just that once or to continue to record that same show whenever it airs. Then you forget about it. When you are ready to watch your show, you go into your recorded shows and push play. You can then fast forward, pause, and rewind that show and keep it as long as you have the space on the DVR. DVRs are also great for live TV as you can hit pause whenever you want and take a potty break (something we have to do frequently for our kids or they’ll wait too long and….). Anyway, you get the idea. You can read about our DVR withdrawals when I fried the TV tuner in the computer. We are now back up and running but it was rough to be without the DVR.

Computers/Internet – Yes, there are still people that have not really used a computer. My mother-in-law is one of them. She actually refuses to use one. I think she’s afraid that if she were to learn to use a computer, that her husband would put her to work. She doesn’t understand that if she were to use one, she could do so much more for herself. Computers are about the most useful and time saving devices that exist. If I can ever get my mother-in-law to actually use one, there’s no going back. She does not understand this. I know that once you learn the basics of the computer your life is forever changed and you are able to do so much more than you could without one. The Internet makes a computer about 1,000 times more useful and time saving. There is nothing that even compares with the Internet with the vast amounts of information at your disposal once you get connected. So this one is kind of a two part technology to never use, a computer with the Internet. You can do a lot with a computer but you can do SO much more with a computer connected to the Internet.

GPS – When I would travel to a place that I had never been to before and try to navigate new streets and find desired destinations, I would get nervous, stressed and frustrated. Even when I would map out my itinerary ahead of time, it was difficult to follow the map and try to keep my eyes on the road. Missing turns and going the wrong way was common back then. Now, I have GPS and won’t be able to be without it. It is a stress reliever. When we bought our van, we chose to get the model with GPS built in and let me tell you, it is so nice to have. I use it more than I ever need to. I turn it on first thing when I get in the van even if I know where I’m going. There’s something about seeing that little red arrow tracking my every movement that gives me comfort. Even if I have no idea where I am, it does. It can find restaurants and stores and gas stations for me. It calculates the best route to any destination I can throw at it. If I miss a turn, it re-calculates the new best route from my new “missed turn” position. Recently Sprint upgraded the firmware on my cell phone and now I get GPS directions on it too. Since I always have my phone with me, I always have GPS. I love it. Travelling will never be the same once you have experienced a GPS unit. One of the best things about it is that once you have purchased the actual GPS unit, it is completely free to use.

Texting – For the longest time, I didn’t see the big deal of texting. I thought it was stupid. I already had several e-mail accounts, what did I need texting for? I touted it as a fad of the younger generation that I must have just barely missed. Well, we just upgraded our Sprint family plan and we now have unlimited texting on all the phones in the plan. I still don’t send a lot of texts but I must admit that there are times when sending a text is the perfect thing. Sometimes you don’t have time or you just don’t want to have a big conversation with someone just to get a tidbit of info from them. A text allows you to get the info you need quickly and unobtrusively. Most people carry their cell phone with them everywhere (except my wife, it drives me crazy). So, when you send someone a text, chances are they will read it very shortly after you sent it. So, you can ask a quick question, make a quick comment or even update your facebook status via a simple text. I do feel there are times when it is NOT appropriate to text in place of an actual phone call. The current high school and college students might not agree but I don’t feel that it is appropriate to send a text message to ask someone out on a date. In fact, this is a technology that should not be abused by replacing real conversations. Many of the young people of today talk more via texting than they do with their mouths. But, it can be fun to be with a group of people and be able to say something to a person there without anyone else knowing what you said. Whispers can be overheard and everyone knows you said something secretive, but if you send a person in the room a text, nobody will necessarily know it was from you, it could have been from anyone anywhere. So, if you do get into texting, text responsibly.

And there you have it. My top 5 technologies that you should never use or you’ll not be able to stop using them. I look forward to future technological developments that we should not take part in so that I can be hooked even more. If you haven’t tried some of the above techologies, think twice before you check them out because once you do, you can’t go back.

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I recently used the Cell Ranger on our first vacation in about 5 years. We went to Disneyland and had such a fun time. We might have to make this vacation thing a regular event. I am still not sure what to think of the Cell Ranger. That is why I am returning it. If it did anything to improve my cellular reception, it wasn’t really enough to notice much of a difference. If I am going to use and promote a product, it has to be a great product. Mediocre products do not receive my endorsement.

So, I have contacted the manufacturer and requested a refund. It’s too bad because I would have loved to have endorsed the product and sold a ton of them. Oh well. Hopefully something even better will come along. If it does, I’ll test that out too and let you know how it goes.

Posted in Computer Networking | 2 Comments »

Abby came home from tumbling one night singing a new cheer she learned that said “R-O-W-D-I-E, that’s the way you spell rowdy”. I’m hoping she heard it wrong but I told her that that is NOT the way you spell rowdy. She tried to argue with me so I explained that each word has a certain spelling and you aren’t supposed to change that spelling just because you want to. I pulled out the dictionary and explained that it contained the correct spelling for all the words so we can check and see how words are supposed to be spelled. I looked up the word rowdy and showed it to her. She decided that I must be right.

Later on, I explained to her what a spelling bee is and she was excited about the contest aspect of it and now asks me to pick words for her to try to spell. So, every night when I lay down in her bed to “talk” I have to come up with several words and she will try to spell them for me. During the day she will randomly try to spell certain words out loud and we can either correct her, or praise her for doing a good job. She is getting better and better.

Tyler does not like to be left out of the spelling game so he also randomly tries to spell words. Tonight at the dinner table he says “how do you spell Jumanji (we had watched it the night before)?. So, I told him J-U-M-A-N-J-I. He then said “I know how to spell door”. I was impressed thinking he really is learning stuff at preschool so I said “how”? Without skipping a beat he very confidently says “H-A-K-E-R”. We all chuckled and Abby told him the correct spelling of door.

Anyway, I think it’s funny how he likes to be a part of things and can’t let his sister have all the glory from spelling.

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There is a song by Thriving Ivory called Angels on the Moon that got me thinking. You can hear it on their site by choosing “audio” and clicking on Angels on the Moon. For me, it actually started automatically playing when I visited the site. Anyway, in the song are the words “don’t tell me if I’m dying, cuz I don’t want to know. if I can’t see the sun, maybe I should go.” It got me thinking about whether or not I would want to know if I was dying.

For me, I think I would want to know. One of the reasons I would want to know is so that I could make the very most of the remaining time I had left. Make each day really worth while and get the most of every moment of every day. I would make sure I spent extra time with my kids and wife and leave them knowing that their father/husband really loved them. I could also make any necessary arrangements before I was gone so that others would not have to be burdened with them.

While I would want to know for myself, I would not necessarily want my wife and kids to know. I think the suspense would be harder and more emotional leading up to the final moment than dealing with the shock and emotions after I were gone. Lets say there were 6 months left, that’s six months of sadness and emotion plus dealing with the aftermath when you are gone. My wife is a big worrier, so being able to save her some grief would be a good thing. If I could spare her the 6 months of pain so that she just has to deal with the aftermath, it might be a good thing.

On the flip side, if my wife were the one with limited time left, I would want to know so that I could help her through it by helping her make the most of the remaining time. It would be sad to get stuck in self pity and sorrow when you have limited time left but I think it would be very difficult not to fall into that.

When we stop to think about it though, we are all dying. Every one of us will have to go through death. It may be in 30 years, it may be in 30 days. So, since we don’t know when that day will come, we should live life as if it were going to happen soon because…it just might. Every day is a new blessing to be with loved ones, lift people up, make the most of every situation. We recently got back from one of our first family vacations in about 5 years. With my work, it is hard to go away as I never know what might happen with my clients needing an on-site visit to fix problems. I fear not being there when they need me and possibly losing business. Well, we prayed that things would be ok with our clients and headed to Disneyland. I had calls about various problems and was able to fix them over the phone or by remotely getting onto their computers. Nothing major that required an immediate on-site visit. Everything requiring an on-site visit was able to wait until our return. I was able to see that I also need to be there for my family. It would be far better to lose a client than to lose the trust, closeness, and love of my wife or kids. They are number one in my life and should always remain so.

Anyway, hopefully we can stay focused on what is important in life as we don’t know how long we will be here. Make the most of every moment you have.

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I am currently in our mini van on the way to California from Utah. I was excited to test out the Cell Ranger on this trip and see if it improved my cellular and data card reception. I have the antenna magnetized to the roof. Now it is a little difficult to say if it is the Cell Ranger or just an improved Sprint network but the connectivity has been great. Right after St. George is a big canyon that always had horrible reception in the past. It has been about a year since I have been through it. This time the data signal from the data card only dropped once. I was amazed. But again, I don’t know if Sprint just improved their coverage through there or if the Cell Ranger is actually doing what it claims it can do. For now I am going to believe it was the Cell Ranger. Maybe on the drive back I’ll turn off the Cell Ranger and see how long I stay connected.

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This is a product I have recently stumbled across. It is a cellular signal enhancer for those of us that suffer from cellular signal dysfunction. No, it isn’t blue. It is a very simple device and comes in two version for power purposes. One is the USB version and can plug into any USB port to receive it’s power (pictured). The other uses a standard 12V cigarette plug for power.

I would recommend the USB version because you have a lot more flexibility in where you can use it. They make cheap little 12V and regular power adapters that have a USB plug on them to power up any USB device without needing to use the ones in a computer. You could is one of these adapters to power up the Cell Ranger as well as any other USB powered devices you may use.

Anyway, you simply plug this little device into a USB port and it starts boosting the cellular signal around it for about 6 feet. It claims it will boost the signal by about 2-3 bars, thus improving clarity and preventing dropped calls. It actually has a microprocessor in it that takes the cellular signal and repeats it at a low level right around the antenna. It works for both cell phones and data cards on any network (except for some Legacy iDEN Nextel signals also used by some Canadian cellular providers). 

The unit costs $150 plus shipping. It can be used anywhere to give your cellular signal a little boost. Currently, I have never actually used a Cell Ranger but I intend to change that. I have one ordered and plan to test it out on an upcoming trip to Disneyland. I figure that it might be useful in the car on the way down and back up and will hopefully improve the signal I get from my hotel room. You have to think about your ability to connect and work while on vacation when your company consists of you and only you. When I have some more experience with the Cell Ranger I will give an update on its claims. If I like it, I will become a reseller and be able to sell the device at a discount. For now, you can get more info by visiting their website directly at www.getcellranger.com.

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It’s that time again. Time for 10 consecutive days of deals from Dell on various electronics. Each day they will have special promotions on different items so it’s best to check back daily to see if the new deal is something you are in need of. Just click on the Dell image each day and it will be updated with that day’s deal. You will see great deals on desktop and laptop computers, flat panel TVs, digital cameras, home theater systems, Blu-Ray Players and more. Each day’s deals lasts for one day only so be sure to check it out. The deals start today and end on the 23rd.

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I believe that it is a fact that all hard drives will eventually crash. This is why I make sure that I setup some kind of a backup for my clients. It is extremely important to have some kind of a regular backup in place. If you are manually backing up your data, make sure you do it regularly. DON’T FORGET! It would be best to setup your backup to automatically happen on a regular schedule. This will save you all kinds of pain, frustration, time, financial loss, blood, sweat, and tears. As soon as you start using a computer, start backing up your data. I have seen the hard drives of some clients last years and years. But, The hard drives in two different servers lost a RAID 5 hard drive (this means that no data was lost as we just needed to replace the missing drive in the array) after about 2 years. another client’s hard drive lasted about 4 years (not in a RAID 5 array) before it died. He luckily had most of a backup and lost very little data. I have also had a couple of workstations lose a hard drive after only a couple of months. In the workplace users will typically save their data to the server which is backed up and therefore we don’t backup the individual workstations. So, while these two workstations didn’t really lose much data, it could have been much worse.

I recently had one of my movie storage hard drives fail. It was a 500 GB external hard drive and it was pretty much FULL of movies. Did I have this hard drive backed up? Nope. In this particular case, the data was not all that valuable as I can easily redo the movies since I still have all the original DVDs. But, it will cost me a lot of time to redo all of them. It is a very good time to reflect on my backup practices though.

A while back, I ran across a very unique product targeting backup, although it may be reliable enough to use for everyday file usage and storage. It is called drobo and is short for “Data Robot”. It is basically an intelligent external hard drive.

It is a small box that can hold 4 Sata hard drives of any capacity. It has a unique new proprietary kind of RAID protection built in. It makes sure that if one of the hard drives inside it fails, your data stays completely in tact. And, not only that, but it lets you continue to work as if nothing happened. It alerts you by the lights on the front that something is wrong. You would then simply replace the failed hard drive with a new Sata drive of any capacity and it re-adjusts to provide you the additional space of the newly inserted drive.

I have known about the drobo since the first version and held off buying one for a few reasons:

• First, price. This little baby costs $500 without any hard drives in it. While that isn’t a ton of money for this kind of protection (it’s actually kind of cheap when you look at the inferior competitors) it is enough to make you think twice about whether or not you really need this device instead of a couple of standard (stupid) external hard drives.
• Second, version one was a bit slow in reading and writing to the device. If I am going to use this for daily use of files, I need it to be decently fast. They fixed this in version two. Reading and writing are now approximately twice as fast as version one. (If you just want to use the drobo as a backup device, you can still pick up version one for around $350 while they close them out.)
• Third, I wanted a network attached storage device so that I didn’t have to leave a computer on in order to access the files. I could simply attach it to the network via a network cable and my files would be available to any of the devices on my network. Droboshare took care of this. Droboshare is a small attachment with an Ethernet port that connects to the drobo via a USB cable. It then makes all of the files on the drobo available to the other network devices. This also means a bit more expense though.

So, because of my crashed drive, I am going to purchase a drobo to test it out. I may start with just the drobo and add the droboshare later. I will start out with my existing hard drives and add more as my capacity needs grow. The second generation drobo can handle as much as 16 TB of data (first generation could handle up to 4 TB) so, it may be a while before I reach those kinds of capacities. If I fill all of the drive bays with drives and find that I need more capacity, I simply remove the smallest drive and replace it with a larger capacity drive. Drobo works in the background to re-configure everything so that my data is safe and I can begin using the extra capacity. This is not possible with standard RAID 5 configurations on other devices as the replacement drive must be the same size as the lost drive or the RAID array will not recognize the new drive.

I will let you know whether I like the drobo or not once I have one in my hot little hands to test. I plan on putting it through it’s paces to make sure it is a valuable investment. I may become a reseller of theirs if I am pleased with the results. Either way, backing up your data is crucial. If you haven’t thought about backing up your data, why don’t you go get started right now. You never know when your hard drive will crash.

Posted in Computer Networking | 1 Comment »

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smart Technology Receives 2008 Best of Riverton Award

U.S. Local Business Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

WASHINGTON D.C., October 10, 2008 — Smart Technology has been selected for the 2008 Best of Riverton Award in the Computer Consultants category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).

The USLBA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USLBA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USLBA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA)

U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USLBA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USLBA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

SOURCE: U.S. Local Business Association

CONTACT:
U.S. Local Business Association
Email: PublicRelations@USLBA.net
URL: http://www.USLBA.net

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Pretty amazng right? Well, it is kind of a joke. I received this notification in my inbox this morning. I checked the company’s website that awarded this to me. If I want to receive the plaque, I have to pay for it. I didn’t even bother to find out how much they wanted. Maybe I should start giving out awards to companies and charging them for the awards. I could make a lot of money. Here is a link to their “official” press release. It’s amazing what people will do to trick you into giving them money. Beware people.

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Why is it that babies have this uncontrollable urge to move around when you are trying to feed them? I am not quite sure what the disgusting mixture is that I was feeding her and I don’t think I want to know. She seemed to be enjoying it even though it looks like she wasn’t. I am amazed at how quickly an arm or even a leg can swat out as I am moving the spoon toward her mouth. She was in big trouble and she knew it but she still let out a big grin when I brought the camera out to capture her messiness on “film”. It is very hard to stay mad at her when she gives you a grin like that. There was green stuff on the backrest, the side and all inside the buckle. It was gross. It’s a good thing she’s cute.

Posted in Family | 3 Comments »