Business, Marketing, and New Technology
ladyjana
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Posts by ladyjana
Quick Turn PCB Anyone?
Sep 9th
Now this is for you really geeky folks out there. I’ve run across a good company that makes high quality and low cost PCBs. (For the rest of us, that mean “printed circuit board“. We all use them, but usually we don’t know we are, and that’s OK. I do not need to be an electrician to know that if I flip the switch, my lights come on.)
Anyway, if, indeed, you are looking for prototype PCB, or you need a pilot run with fast lead-time, you might want to check out More >
Sunshifter Clothing and Fingernails
Sep 9th
Ok, high tech fans, perhaps you knew about the clothing that changes color when the sun hits it? These have been around for 25 years or so. I know this for sure because my kids had some when they were small, and they are not small anymore! I’m wondering why this sort of high tech textile has not been more widespread than it is. I have heard of fabric that is “wired” in such a way, that you can actually have dynamic color changes, and it’s programmable.
For instance, you could have a series of colors change, More >
Does Your Business Need An Advertising Boost?
Sep 3rd
Let’s face it. Times are rough. Everywhere you look businesses are struggling. Unfortunately many businesses don’t seem to understand that when their income is off, THAT is the time to spend more on advertising, so that more income comes in. Not only that, but if your business is the one that is keeping it’s name out in front of the people, while your competitors slack off, then when those same customers do decide to buy, it is your name they will remember because of the recent advertising. You win.
Of course, you don’t want to be just throwing your advertising dollars out the window. You need to More >
Clark Howard Knows How to Save Money
Aug 19th
Are you like everyone else and need to save some money? Doesn’t everyone? Clark Howard knows how to save money in all kinds of places. His newly released book, “Clark Howard’s Living Large in Lean Times” is all about how to cut your expenses, and make ends meet.
One thing he recommends to save is to use Ooma. This is a way to save money on your home phone service. You’ll need an Ooma box, and an internet connection. When you get the service you have free local phone service for as long as Ooma exists. That, hopefully, will be a long time, and it doesn’t get any better than that.
Mr. Howard also recommends buying your eyeglasses online. Of course, More >
Mom’s 60th
Aug 17th
Thanks for the post from Barney Crosby
When my mom celebrated her 60th birthday last year I don’t think it was exactly how any of us had planned. She had fallen the month before and broken her hip so we celebrated by throwing her a small get together in the living room of the house. She was really excited to see all her church friends, though, and since she hadn’t been mobile in a while it was nice for her to get up and move around. My wife and I gave her a DirectstarTV.com satellite system so she could keep herself entertained while she continued to heal and she kept saying it was the best gift she’d ever gotten! I love my mom and I hate seeing her all tied up like this but the doctor says she’s got to be really careful or she risks really hurting herself again. I hate that we weren’t there when she fell but I know she’s glad we’re able to offer her so much help in the meantime while she gets better on her own accord!
Land Lines VS VoIP
Aug 15th
Just how expensive is your phone bill? If you’re still using the traditional land line for your phone service, it probably is much more expensive than you need to pay. VoIP, or Voice Over IP (the Internet) has improved significantly in the last few years, and now is a viable option for those who need land line service without the high prices.
Using VoIP used to be less More >
Extend the Life of Your Laptop Battery
Aug 11th
Laptop batteries are EXPENSIVE.
Here are several tips to extend the life of your lithium-ion battery.
One thing to remember is that heat is the enemy. So, whenever you are running your laptop from a cord, take out the battery, so it will stay cool. This includes avoiding hot places like a hot car.
Full discharges put a strain on the battery. Frequent partial charges with frequent recharging is much better. Although you should fully discharge and recharge about once every 30 partial recharges.
Here is a great video with more tips on extending your battery life from FrugalTech. More >
Red Dyes and Gooey Stains
Aug 10th
Stain removal has come a long way since the days of beating clothing on rocks, trying to get them clean. And it’s a good thing. We have created thousands of new chemicals with the capability to leave dark spots on just about any kind of clothing. One of the worst stains to get out is the color red. Who hasn’t seen (or experienced) the dreaded Pink Laundry? When you put just one tiny red thing in with a full load of lighter colors, and whoosh, More >
Be Sure Your Audios Are Legal
Aug 9th
A video without audio is likely to be flat and boring. Adding the right music as a background can create mood and excitement that can make or break the viewer’s experience. Unfortunately, YouTube videos are not showing without sound. Why? Because the soundtrack used is copyrighted, and the maker of the video did not have permission to use it. Be careful not to break the law by putting someone’s music track beneath your video is you do not have the right to do so.
There are various ways to get music tracks that you can safely use. One way is to make use of the music shared on sites such as Creative Commons, Incompetech, and Jamendo. On these sites, the creators share their works with the public. You might also try finding some at sites that have stocked libraries of classic music and loops, like iStockPhoto. You could tap into the membership site TwoBuckThemes, and get 5 loops each month for $10.
However you find your music, just make sure that you have the right to use it publicly, and there should be no problems.
Snipping Tool Captures That Screen!
Aug 7th
Have you ever wished you could just take a picture of what’s right there on your computer screen? Well you can. There are actually many different ways to do this. No, I’m not talking about your good ol’ Nikon.
One way to capture exactly what’s on the screen is by using the “Print Screen” button on your keyboard. Every time you press this key, it will capture an image of the entire screen and place it on the clipboard. Then, you can paste it onto a Word document, or into Excel, or any other program you wish. Then, of course, you have to crop off the parts you don’t want. I used this method for years, before I found out that there are MUCH easier ways to get images.
I found that you could download software that would make the job a snap. I tried GreenShot Image Editor (free) , which does a great job. So does Snagit by Techsmith (not free).
But my favorite of all was found right under my nose! In the Program Files, under Accessories, there is a thing called the Snipping Tool. It came with the system. (I am currently using Windows Vista- yes, I know, thanks for the sympathy) Just click it open, and it will grab whatever part of the screen you shade. The image is on your clipboard, and you have the option of saving as a jpeg, or sending it via email as an attachment. Or, of course you could just paste it onto whatever program you need it in.
Happy Snipping!