Category Archives: Communication

Blizzard Prep For Your Technology

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storm

Forecasters are predicting the first major snowstorm in New England since two winters ago. We all know the standard drill about getting in supplies (Milk! Bread! Beer! Chocolate!), but in this now high tech world here are some things you might not think to do:

– Charge up all of your devices, AND any rechargeable batteries and devices that could recharge other things. For me, that means not only my iPhone and laptop, but also:

– my battery-powered air compressor and my portable battery I use for busking. Both have 12 volt outlets, and I have a DC inverter allowing me to plug in AC devices to recharge, like my phone. If you do not have a DC inverter get one – you can also use it to recharge AC devices from your running car with its accessory outlet.

– A battery device on my key ring that can recharge my iPhone.

– All of the AA rechargable batteries I have for flashlights, and ANOTHER phone recharger that takes AAs.

– Don’t forget your Kindle or other eReader!

– DOWNLOAD anything you might want to access if the power goes out and/or the wifi quits. It doesn’t matter how many ebooks or mp3s you have in the cloud if you can’t get to the cloud!

– If you still have a landline, do you have a basic fully-wired phone connected to it? A Trimline phone is totally powered by the phone line’s 48V circuit, which frequently stays on when you lose other power. But if all you have is a wireless receiver/voicemail recorder type phone that plugs into a power outlet it will not work if the street power goes out.

– If you have a smartphone, does it allow you to use it as a wifi hotspot? If so, you may be able to continue to surf the web with your laptop when your home router loses power. But be aware that it will drain your phone battery more quickly.

Friday Faves 01-25-13

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Some fun items:

For my donation to the Indiegogo campaign for Lunar Labyrinth (still 6 days to go!) I got one of two available custom flasks. That reward point is now closed – BUT if you would like to have a nicely hand-painted steel flask, great for water or any 8 oz of liquid you might want to stash in your hip pocket (great for places that want to sell you a bottle of water for $5!)  check out John King’s site:

 

If you are wondering about what evidence, if any, exists for using a particular supplement for a specific medical use, check out this chart visualizing study results for various supplements.

 

If you don’t use a lot of data/text/voice time on your phone, or it varies so much that paying $100/month for a large amount of minutes that don’t roll over, check out Ting, who offers a plan that automatically charges you for whatever tier of service you actually use in a particular monthly period, even if you signed up for a higher tier.

 

If you like classic movies shown in old moviehouses, consider supporting Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre so that they can update their projectors (since the film distributors are going all-digital, even for old films) and their heating/cooling system:

Claim Your Facebook Page Username

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I started to write another post, but when I went to link a Facebook page to it I realized the page owner had not claimed a username for her page.

What does this mean? If you want people to be able to find you easily on the Web, it’s helpful to have an easily-remembered web address (URL). For your own website domain this means you want buy a domain name that makes sense and is easily remembered. E.g., I could have bought the domain name “StuffThatBettyWiderskiKnowsAndWantsToShareWithYou .com”                                     but “WhatBettyKnows.com” is more memorable and tidy.

You don’t have as much control over your Facebook business/band/etc Page address, but you can choose to make it less of a string of random numbers.

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Posting Your Music Samples

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I’ve shown you how to share files with individuals via YouSendIt. I’ve also talked about using Dropbox and Carbonite to share files among your own devices. But suppose you want to share (legal original) music or sound files to a group of people, e.g., your band, or with the general public?

If you have your own website you can stream MP3s from there – but that could quickly use up your monthly data transfer allotment if the tracks are popular or large. If you are selling the tracks you could set up a Bandcamp account and post them there.

But if these are files like band practice recordings, rough drafts, non-music audio samples, etc. you may prefer to use SoundCloud.

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