Tech Geek and More
Technology Explained for All
Alert: Yahoo website (Including mail) and Yahoo Messenger appear to be currently down
Jul 22nd
**UPDATE – As of 12:10p its seems the issue is now corrected and it appears that the issue affected those with Comcast or AT&T Internet providers.
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As of 11:15 a (EST) it does appear that most (if not all) of the Yahoo properties (Website, Mail, Messenger) are not responding. No details are known as of yet. More details to follow as soon as possible.
Apple: Late Show with David Letterman– Bad iPhone Top Ten
Jul 14th
You know that a tech issue has gone main stream when David Letterman uses it for his Top Ten List.
Here are the Top Ten “Signs you’ve purchased a bad iPhone”
Software: Take screenshots on Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac OS X without app (From Techtrickz)
Jul 11th
As a support tech, when I can see the error that we are being asked to fix, it helps me find a solution a whole lot faster (That rule hold true for every tech). Most of the time what the support tech gets is “I don’t know what it said, I didn’t write it down…..”. The following comes from the Techtrickz website (LINK http://techtrickz.com/how-to/take-screenshots-on-android-iphone-windows-and-mac-os-x-without-app/ (http://techtrickz NULL.com/how-to/take-screenshots-on-android-iphone-windows-and-mac-os-x-without-app/) ). The following information is a simple way that you can take a screenshot (am image of your screen) that you can then share with any tech.
The tips are for Windows and Mac computers, as well as iPhone and Android phones.
SALE ALERT: XBOX360 (Arcade Edition) on Sale at Target for $129.99 and Target will give you a $30 Gift Card making the total price $99
Jul 6th
This one started on Sunday and goes until July 10th (or until they run out). You can get the XBOX360 Arcade Edition (which means that it doesn’t include things like the external hard drive in the package) for $129 dollars, and with your purchase Target will give you a $30 dollar Target gift card, making the deal actually only $99 dollars.
The XBOX360 Arcade Edition is usually about $199 dollars, but with the newer “Slim” version coming out in a few weeks, I guess Target is trying to make some shelf space by clearing out this “Original” version of the XBOX360.
You can find the weekly ad at (LINK) http://weeklyad.target.com/target/default.aspx?action=entryflash&ref=sc_iw_l_0_1 (http://weeklyad NULL.target NULL.com/target/default NULL.aspx?action=entryflash&ref=sc_iw_l_0_1)
(From 1st Hand Experience) You can but the XBOX Arcade Bundle and then buy a “USED” external Hard Drive for about $30 and other accessories at various prices from places like Microcenter (LINK) http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0328969 (http://www NULL.microcenter NULL.com/single_product_results NULL.phtml?product_id=0328969) or http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315001 (http://www NULL.microcenter NULL.com/single_product_results NULL.phtml?product_id=0315001)
Tech: Removing the in place ads from your browsing – Internet Explorer…..
Jun 26th
One of the questions I keep getting asked involves “pop up ads” that appear as highlighted words on WebPages. What you will see when browsing on various sites is that key words will be highlights and double underlined (As shown on example below), and when you place your mouse over the key word a “related” ad to the key word will appear.
There are a couple of problems with this, 1st off the ad pops up as long as you move your mouse, so you DONT get a choice on if you want to see it or not and 2nd, allot of those “related” ads may be related to the key word itself, but may have nothing to do with the topics you are searching for. As in this post from a tech site, about a story the new i-Phone leak and when my mouse goes over the story, I get an ad for BP…..
So what do you do if you want to get rid of these ads. Here are the steps…..
1 – On the top of Internet Explorer – Go to Tools –> Internet Options
2- Once in Internet Options, click on the “Security Tab” –> The on Restricted Sites –> The on the button that says Sites
3 – Once there in the box that says “Add this website to the zone enter the following 3 websites.
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vibrantmedia.com
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intellitxt.com
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kontera.com
4 – You will need to refresh the webpage at this point by clicking on page refresh on the top of Internet Explorer.
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*NOTE – Example ads are bigger in post than normal for example purposes.
**NOTE – Sites that offer Inline ads do this as a revenue stream so that they can offer viewers services for cheap or free, while making money from the ads.
***NOTE – TechGeekandMore does NOT use any form of Inline ads and if anyone comes across any form of inline ads within the TGM site, we ask to be notified immediately. Please send a screen shot if possible with details of what you see and from which posting. (SOAPBOX) Even though TGM is looking for ways to help with the cost of running the TGM site, it is felt that inline ads ruin the browsing experience and as such does not want those type of ads for its visitors. (END SOAPBOX)
Software: Skype offering Free Calls to the USA, Mexico and many more countries for a month (FYI There is a catch)
Jun 24th
Skype (pronounced /ˈskaɪp/ (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English)) is a software application (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Application_software) that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Voice_over_Internet_Protocol). Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Landlines) and mobile phones (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Mobile_phone) can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Instant_messaging), file transfer (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/File_transfer), and video conferencing (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Video_conferencing). (From Wiki – LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Skype))
Many of you may know Skype simply as a chat / video chat tool that you use to communicate with others from one computer to another. However, chat does also do calls from computer to phone lines and starting today Skype has a special offer for “Free Calls to the USA, Mexico, and many more countries for a month” all in honor of the World Cup (Soccer or Football depending on where you live). The following is from the Skype “BIG BLOG” (LINK:) http://blogs.skype.com/en/2010/06/free_calls_for_a_month.html (http://blogs NULL.skype NULL.com/en/2010/06/free_calls_for_a_month NULL.html)
This is a great deal for users who need to make International Calls, however there are a few things you need to be made aware of. (There always seems to be a catch)
- You will need to create a Skype account and after that “Subscribe to the plan you are looking at (It seems each one of the countries has its own individual plan, so its not like I can sign up to call Mexico and also call the UK with the same plan.
- When you “Subscribe” to the plan, Skype will ask you for either a Credit Card Number or PayPal Account Number and they will authorize $1 per “Subscription. They ultimately do not charge the $1 fee , they just put a $1 hold on your account for a couple of days which verifies the account as active.
- - > Why do you ask they do that, because they want to make sure that the card / PayPal account is valid because you are signing up for the Skype plan for that country. IF you do NOT cancel the “Subscription” yourself before the 30 days are up, you will be automatically charged the fill price of the “Subscription” the following month. As seen in the following 2 quotes from the Skype site.
After the first month, you’ll be charged our normal subscription rate. A fair usage policy (http://www NULL.skype NULL.com/go/terms NULL.fairusage?cm_mmc=socialm|skypeblogs-_-global|intl|pl-_-skype-_-football2010|subscriptions) applies where we offer unlimited calls. Subscriptions exclude service, special, premium and non-geographic numbers. Terms and conditions apply to individuals countries – see the promotion website (http://footballpromo NULL.skype NULL.com/?cm_mmc=socialm|skypeblogs-_-global|intl|pl-_-skype-_-football2010|subscriptions) for more details.
You can cancel your subscription at any time before the end of your free trial and your payment method will not be charged; otherwise, you will be charged on a monthly basis. Learn more (http://go NULL.skype NULL.com/help)
- There seems to be a different spot to cancel for Subscriptions using PayPal and those using Credit Cards
- - > For PayPal (LINK: https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA628/How-can-I-cancel-a-PayPal-Billing-Agreement?frompage=search&q=cancel (https://support NULL.skype NULL.com/en/faq/FA628/How-can-I-cancel-a-PayPal-Billing-Agreement?frompage=search&q=cancel) )
How can I cancel a PayPal Billing Agreement?
In order to cancel your PayPal Billing Agreement, you need to sign into your PayPal account (http://www NULL.PayPal NULL.com). Once logged in, go to Profile > Pay List and choose the agreement you wish to cancel and click the Cancel button on top of the page.
- For Credit Cards (LINK: https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA1881/How-do-I-cancel-my-subscription?frompage=search&q=cancel (https://support NULL.skype NULL.com/en/faq/FA1881/How-do-I-cancel-my-subscription?frompage=search&q=cancel))
How do I cancel my subscription?
You can cancel at anytime by signing in to your account (https://secure NULL.skype NULL.com/account/call-phones/settings) and on the Subscription settings page, click Cancel.
Please note – if you cancel your subscription, it will run to the end of your contract. For example, if you have a 3 month subscription, your subscription will run until the end of the 3 month period.
With all of that being said, as long as you remember to cancel before the 30 days are up (unless you want to continue with the service), this is a nice way to test it, so that you can see for yourself if this service is for you.
(http://www
