[y66]

This is no doubt old news for water cooler people. If you have some ideas to add to the list, please post them.

[Fluffy]

I don't know about USA, but here charging cables are really expensive, you can get charged $10 for a small plastic piece with 2 metal plugs, and that's just for 1 device. Better cable such as an HDMI one can be up to 45€

[kenberg]

I would be interested in discussing some of the suggestions. This could produce thread sprawl but still, I would be interested.

Example: Suggestion 1 of the article: GET A SMARTPHONE
Well, maybe. I am seldom far away from a computer. So what will I be getting?

Example: Suggestion 2: STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER
I use Firefox but I don't really know why.

Example: Suggestion 7: GET FREE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
Well, I use McAfee and for me it is free. Is some of the other stuff better? And maybe I need some supplementary stuff? McAfeee mostly is anti-virus (I think) but maybe I need something to clear out various tracking thingamajigs? You can see I barely know what I am talking about.




This stuff comes at us fast and heavy. Maybe we should scrap the landline and just use a cell or one of its advanced cousins. But I am not sure. Maybe I should understand what Skype would do for me. I dunno.


I am not totally incompetent, but the onrush of options sometimes makes me feel like I am.

My router sometimes doesn't seem to route very well. Playing on BBO I sometimes have to sign off and go to the main computer.

[mgoetze]

 y66, on 2010-December-30, 09:17, said:

This is no doubt old news for water cooler people. If you have some ideas to add to the list, please post them.

Are you asking for useful ideas, or for ideas that, like the ones in the quoted article, provoke a "LOLWTF?" reaction.

[mgoetze]

 kenberg, on 2010-December-30, 19:13, said:

Example: Suggestion 2: STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER
I use Firefox but I don't really know why.

Because Internet Exploder is and always has been very *****y software with tons of security holes and blatant nonconformance to standards (which were designed to enable interoperability).

My personal favourite is actually Opera, but I don't mind whether people use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Konqueror, Epiphany or whatever, as long as it's not Internet Exploder.

Chrome, of course, has some of the "WTF" of other suggestions ("hand over all your data to some evil corporation for safekeeping") with regards to data privacy.

[y66]

I like Chrome because it's fast. Period. HTML5 support is a plus but not a big deal yet.

I like Picasssa for managing and sharing photos and Dropbox for sharing files. They are easy to use and time savers for me.

My phone service provider is Verizon. I called them 2 years ago and got a much better deal for essentially the same level of service. Was surprised how easy that was.

I don't have a decent real-time data backup solution. Not sure I need one. Most of the documents I care about can be recovered from gmail attachments or Dropbox if needed.

I don't have a smartphone.

I don't use Antivirus software. Not because of the cost. It's too intrusive for my taste (too slow). I know this is not a good idea. I'll check out the Avast software.

Skype is nice if you make calls to parts of the world that aren't covered by your phone plan, for example, if you're planning a trip and doing a lot of the bookings yourself, or if you have a family member in school abroad.

My favorite tech device is a Kindle. The text is sharp -- way easier to read than books for me -- and it's light weight makes it suitable for use on the subway.

[Fluffy]

I use both firefox and chrome, normally have like 6 tabs on each open, I use both because some things don't work properly in one, and some others don't work on the other, but I haven't found yet soemthing that doesn't work on either.

Having the 2 open also lets me be logged in in my 2 gmail accounts simultaneously