Choosing a Digital Camera
Yes, I still like my Minolta Dimage 5 megapixel camera.
I’m not sure what model I’d get today, but my wish list is still the same (and was mostly fulfilled by the Minolta Dimage) Minolta doesn’t sell my model anymore – the new one uses a proprietary battery pack. So, I wouldn’t choose it today.
1) My digital camera must take “AA” batteries so I’m not slave to some funky Lithium hybrid that requires me to also carry around a special charger just for my camera. I want to buy AA or AAA batteries at Walgreen or CVS if my rechargeable batteries fail. Read more
Fill your IPOD or MP3 player with Free Music While You Sleep
Summary: Inexpensive software will let you use feeds from thousands of Internet Radio stations to fill your IPOD or MP3 player with thousands of free current songs while you sleep. |
I mentioned in another post that I spend more time listening to Internet Radio stations than I do listening to my own, somewhat large, CD collection.
When I’m listening live, I mostly listen to Pandora.com because it’s commercial free and talk free, but I also sometimes visit a Internet Radio website called www.Shoutcast.com for another reason – Using inexpensive software, I can record songs from the Shoutcast Internet radio stations directly to iPod or MP3 files, and each file is automatically labeled with the song title and artist name.
Let me say that another way: I can start a program on my PC or Mac, I can tell it to record my favorite Shoutcast radio stations overnight, and when I wake up I can find a couple hundred free songs, or several hours of music
Furthermore, I can tell the software to record up to eight Shoutcast Internet Radio Stations at one time. So, for every one hour the software is recording Shoutcast music, I’ll get eight hours of music on my iPod or MP3 player. Run the program for 6 hours overnight, and you’ll find 48 hours of songs on your player when you wake the next morning.
How do I get High Speed Mobile Internet and what is a Mobile Router?
| Summary: A Mobile Router with High Speed Mobile Internet from your Cellular provider can give you sharable WiFi Internet in areas where you never before had high speed Internet. |
Vikki asked, “I’m really interested in the mobile cell high speed. The fastest I can get with dial up is 31.2! How does this work? I’m not THAT computer technologically savvy.”
Most popular cellular phone companies now offer high speed mobile Internet service.
Contact your cellular company and tell them you want to sign up for their mobile Internet. They’ll ask you what type of computer you’re using and they’ll sell you a card you plug into your notebook computer and you’ll begin paying $45-$80 per month for unlimited high speed Internet by cell phone signal.
Notice the picture of the router in the picture above.
It looks much like a regular wireless Internet router that you may already have in your home. However, notice in the lower image, which is the back of the router, you’ll see a slot that looks like the open slot on your notebook computer.
You can plug the Mobile Internet PCMCIA card from your cellular provider into this router’s slot on the back and it will convert the Cellular Internet signal into a standard Wi-Fi signal that can be broadcast to multiple laptops in the area. Notice that the mobile router also has standard RJ-45 jacks so that the cellular signal can be used by a desktop computer plugged in to the router by wire.
Still Searching for Hot Spots? Mobile Internet…Always “Good to Go”
| Summary: 3G Data Cards are only one application in the burgeoning Mobile Internet industry. Others are WiMAX, WiBRO, Cellular PC Cards and Internal Cellular Modems. |
Wi-Fi is fine, but if you have an open mind and are looking for an even better and more reliable way to connect to the Internet (and in more places) then read on!
Not long ago, my friend Tim and I went on a fishing trip in rural northern Michigan. We were staying in a beautiful bed and breakfast that, unfortunately, had no Internet access. We drove through a residential neighborhood, found several unsecured Internet connections, and borrowed one with a strong signal so that we could check and answer e-mail.
On a trip to Honolulu, the condo we shared with friends had only a wired Internet connection, but I wanted to work outside. So, when I started my computer on the 6th floor lanai, I was pleased to find about fifty Internet connections with about half of them unsecured.
I’ve been discovering lately that fewer people are leaving their Internet connections unsecured. Because of this, I recently subscribed to Verizon’s Mobile Internet service so that I’ll never have to hunt for a hot spot again.
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