Technology & How-To
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I am back ………
Over three years after my last entry on this blog, I have decided to resume writing. So much has happened since then…….. For a start, I turned 80 last January and so I am now in the ninth decade of my life! My three children are also getting on—one is in her mid-50s, one in her early 40s and the youngest is in his late 30s. Who would have thunk that I would actually have middle-aged children, or close to it! Two months ago, we moved from Tampa to be close to our son, Amit, and his partner, Brett. Although we are still quite functional, we are at a stage…
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The ultimate in outsourcing
I just love this story! “Bob” – his full/real name is not known – worked for Verizon as a software developer/programmer drawing a six figure salary and came up with a creative idea. We all know of companies who outsource their work to India and China to save money. Bob decided to take things one step further: he outsourced his own job to China without the knowledge of his employer! The software developer, who is in his 40s’ paid a Chinese firm about a fifth of his six-figure compensation to do his job for him while he spent his working days surfing the internet. Bob’s creative use of personal outsourcing…
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Is your Dell Inspiron laptop having a problem with a jumping cursor?
If you have ever, while typing on your laptop, found that the cursor jumps around for no apparent reason resulting in whatever you are typing not appearing where it should be, you have gotten, what I call the “jumping cursor syndrome”. This is a problem that affected my Dell Inspiron 1764 laptop and after googling to find a solution, it turns out to be be a problem that obviously affects not only Dell laptops but those by other manufacturers including HP, Lenova, Compaq, Asus, etc. The indications are that it started with the Vista operating system but those who have Windows 7 are also affected by the problem. There is…
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David Carroll, United Airlines and social media at its best!
I love You Tube and its endless variety of offerings. I also cordially dislike flying – everything about it infuriates me ranging from the security hassles at the airport, the less than customer friendly airline service, the cramped seating, the full flights and just about every thing that one associates with flying nowadays. I did not always feel this way about flying – there was a time in the eighties when I flew several days a week as part of my job. It was a different era then and many of the frustrations associated with flying today were not there then or to the extent they were, it was relatively…
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“A genius and a jerk”
Let me first acknowledge that I have never been a fan of Apple products. However, this is not because I have a problem with the product as much as the fact that I have always felt that they were over-priced. A Dell PC does all that I need to do at a third of the price. Perhaps the Apple operating system is less buggy and the interface is more streamlined. I will also concede that the three members of my family who are computer savvy – namely my son, my son-in-law and my younger brother – are unreservedly Apple fans. Having said this, it does not take away from the…
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No audio on Youtube and other flash video
Given the positive reaction that my posting regarding a temporary fix to a laptop’s battery not charging, I thought I would share my resolution of another problem I confronted with my laptop. I lost audio when trying to play anything on Youtube or any other site that used flash video – most people use Adobe – but had normal audio in all other respects. I googled this endlessly and tried various fixes without success. In the process I also discovered that this was a problem that many other computer users reported and most expressed frustration about the lack of a satisfactory solution either on Microsoft’s website or that of Adobe.…
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A follow-up to my last post…………
Just a quick follow-up to my last post “Dell laptop problem: “Plugged in battery not charging”: The fix I posted ceased to work on my laptop. I contacted Dell since the laptop is still under warranty and a technician was sent on a service call to replace the motherboard and the A/C adapter. The technician started the laptop using the new adapter and the problem disappeard. When he attempted to use the old adapter, the problem returned which seemed to confirm that the issue was with the A/C adapter. So it turned out to be a relatively simple fix and it was not necessary to replace the motherboard though he…
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Dell laptop problem: “Plugged in battery not charging”
My posting today is a total departure from the usual subjects and issues on which I comment. I have been beset with a problem on my laptop – a Dell Inspiron 1764 – which Google searches have shown to be a relatively common problem affecting laptops irrespective of the manufacturer – and therefore not confined to Dell. I use Windows 7 but the problem also affects other operating systems such as Vista and XP. What happens is that when one tries to charge the battery a message appears that an incompatible adapter is being used and therefore the battery is not charging. However, power is being transmitted to the laptop…