In Control Tek » computers

Why are you still paying for TV?

melody — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:44:48 +0000

Everyone talks about our fast-paced lives and how it’s becoming increasingly hard to make time for things. I have a few things to say about that, but for the purposes of this post, let’s address one of the reasons it’s hard to ‘make time’ for things -

you have to work with someone else’s schedule.

I would imagine most mother’s can relate to me when I say that the idea of sitting down on the couch every night and watching a program or movie sounds great, but isn’t very realistic. Does it happen? Of course! But it happens by way of us deciding to let someone else dictate our schedule. Because networks put programs on at specific times, and instead of watching something you might enjoy more, you are forced to watch whatever show is on at that time, or re-arrange your schedule to be ‘available’ when the other show airs.

Many of us, including myself, were excited when we got a DVR. Whether it was a TiVO unit, or just the type that can be leased from your cable company, it was schedule-saving! Now, we could DVR that show we really wanted to see, and watch it later. Of course, then it became a matter of which DVR show we want to watch…there were so many, right? And if you didn’t watch one fast enough, it would no longer be available. And if you really wanted to see something again, like a movie or a favorite episode, you had to sacrifice room for future shows. But yet, we could fast-forward the 5 minutes of commercials and we weren’t beholden to the networks. And it was good.

Now, even having a DVR seems ancient. With the explosion of streaming media, paying for television shows is fast becoming unnecessary. Why lease a DVR for $6.99/month from your cable company, plus pay $30-$50 or more to get programs? They are available, with extremely short commercial breaks (we’re talking 15-30 second spots) online. Hulu and Netflix are slowly but surely changing the way people get their entertainment while still providing an outlet for advertising. The best part? You rarely have to worry about not finding a show. But, even if you can’t find a particular show – is it really worth paying $30-$50 every month for the privilege of watching it? Only you can decide that, but for my money, shows like “Dancing With The Stars” are nice distraction, but not worth $30/month!

There are certain restrictions with streaming through Hulu, but overall there aren’t many negatives over what you get with cable. For example, a show currently airing will have the last five episodes available. So if you miss more than five episodes, you can’t go back far enough to completely catch-up. But, if you had cable, you wouldn’t be able to catch-up at all, until re-runs. Certain channels don’t have content through Hulu yet, but in time it will come. And what you cannot get with Hulu, you can often find on Netflix. You must pay for a Netflix account in order to stream video, but plans run as low as $8.99/month for 1 DVD (at-a-time) and that would replace your need for a Blockbuster membership. If you utilize streaming from Netflix, depending on how many shows/movies you watch per week, it can certainly be more cost-effective than paying for cable and renting $1 movies from a kiosk like Redbox.

The biggest hurdle to moving away from cable or satellite to streaming media is the initial cost. You can access Hulu right now on your computer, and if you have a Netflix account, you can stream directly to your computer as well. However, I doubt most members of your family will want to sit in a computer chair in front of a 20″ monitor to watch a show or movie. Also, it’s hard to do family movie night in a small office if more chairs are needed. Instead, you will want a computer for your entertainment system with wireless control. There are a few options on the market, that run from the $700′s to over $1,000 with added peripherals. You can also have a company like ours custom-build a system for you, often for cheaper than retail pricing. That seems like a lot, but consider that if you keep paying for just cable, you’ll have spent that amount in a year – less if you have premium channels. Consider the difference in cost between how you rent now and the potential savings from a Netflix membership and your time until it saves you money gets even shorter.

This may not be an ideal solution for everyone, yet. You must be comfortable enough with using the computer to navigate a website, rather than just scrolling up/down on your cable menu to choose programs, and the resolution on a bigger screen TV might be a problem. Overall, however, streaming media is definitely the future of television and with everyone wanting to save money, ditching the monthly drain of cable or satellite service seems like a great place to start!

Hurricane Season 2 – After the Rain

melody — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:37:39 +0000

I received quite a few comments about my first post regarding preparing for our favorite non-season, and several requests for more information. Since none of you were terribly specific, I had to go out on a limb and guess – what else can I cover? And then, thanks in part to someone in a networking group I attended this morning, the answer struck me.

After the storm passes, what do I do?

Hopefully, if a hurricane does hit, you’ll be fine. That’s always our wish! However, let’s say you’re not. Nothing catastrophic, no trees on your roof or lawn furniture through your window. But, lets say you suffered what we personally suffered back in 2004 during Charlie, I think it was. At that time, we still had some undeveloped land at the end of our street, and a power pole was knocked-down along with a tree. Since we were certainly not the only ones without power, and as we later heard, out-of-state crews were having difficulty finding neighborhoods; we were without power for close to a week. Did I mention? We run our business from our home. Without a disaster operation plan, many folks in our same situation – even companies who could loose their storefronts, could be in for a very rough ride. How do you operate? Where would you go? How would employees work if their homes were fine, but roads were cut-off and they couldn’t come in? It’s that question I explore here.

1) From backup to Back Up
In my initial post, I mentioned backing-up your data. This is obviously an attempt to keep your valuable information, personal or business, from being lost. What do you do, however, if you can’t get it right back on your own machines? Obviously, smooth operations are the key to surviving in a post-traumatic environment. The easier and faster you can get back to ‘normal’ for your employees and customers, the more they will appreciate you. One way is to have a secondary site picked-out. In our case, we invaded the spare bedroom of a friend, and in the immediate, charged our cellphones at a neighbor’s home on another block. If your business is less mobile, you may consider having your employees telecommute. Paying for a local company to backup your servers at a secure facility and having web-accessible software options for your salespeople and even management, will allow your business to continue on with minimal interruption. For home users, the explosion of social media offers another refuge in the storm. If your relatives want to contact you and phone lines are down and the cell towers are jammed, you might be able to get online at a friend’s home and post your status on Facebook. If you’re sitting on the fence wondering why you’d ever use a site like that – there you go!

2) Have some low-tech options available
We are as guilty as the next people about not having paper backups. Especially now, the push is to be ‘green’ and that means using less paper. Maybe you don’t need to print-out every single interaction, but at the very least, have a recent phone list for both your employees and customers. Go old-school: get a three-ring binder, print out a neat list in Excel or equivalent program, hole-punch and insert. Depending on the database you use, it should be as simple as exporting your contact list as a .csv file. If you are a small business like we are, sync your contact data with your PDA or Smartphone. That way even if you can’t get to a computer, at least you’ll know it’s a customer calling and your people can still make calls to current prospects. Paper work orders, even if they are just kept for emergencies, will help in the field to ensure everything is covered. Make sure they are up-to-date with your correct address, phone # and any appropriate information-gathering fields are relevant. For the homeowner, having a three-ring binder at all times with up-to-date contact information, insurance policies and phone numbers (home/car/health), health information if relevant and any other information specific to your situation is vital. (Pet photos, nursing home info, etc) If you need to go to a shelter, for example, the last thing you want to be thinking is ‘how do I even contact my insurance company?’

3) Prepare for the worst – hope for the best
None of us want to believe a storm will hit. “That, won’t happen to me“, we say. Every time we see folks on the news, spray hitting their backs or water creeping up their porch, as they stubbornly speak with a reporter about how they just can’t leave their home and belongings.
Can I say this? Don’t be an idiot. Prepare now. Prepare on an off-year, tweak the plan where appropriate and stick with it. Don’t get lazy! The one year you say ‘oh, yeah we’re fine. It hasn’t happened yet’ will be the year you could have used that disaster plan. There’s this guy named Murphy – I’m sure you’ve heard of him. If he’s going to have the last laugh? Don’t let it be at your expense.

Warning: Computers may be hazardous to your child’s health

melody — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:24:17 +0000

No, I’m not talking about getting ADHD from video games or needing glasses from over-exposure to bright or flickering monitors. I’m talking about being a good old-fashioned klutz.

Now, I have no room to talk because I run into the corners of walls and trip over rugs! But, that’s another story. For most of us, we know where our computers are, where the cords go, and not to do things like pull on the TV stand. Unfortunately, kids don’t usually display that kind of common sense right out of the womb. And according to an article that was posted in the June 9 online issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, injuries to children 9 and under have increased 732 percent from 1994-2006. Part of that is due to the increase in the number of households with computers – but what does it also tell you about safety issues we’ve all but ignored?

I remember when I was growing-up and the big concern for safety was pull blinds with loops. That was an easy fix to simply manufacture blinds with non-looping pulls. Unfortunately, as accessories in the home get more complicated, so do the problems. The greatest jump in injuries occurred in the under 5 age group, which is no surprise. I can still remember panicking because my daughter, now 3, pushed the bright blue button on my computer that was evidently screaming ‘play with me’ in baby-speak. Luckily, I didn’t lose any data. It could have been much worse had I not been there – not for me, but for her.

A mess of wires, components that outgrow their homes, wobbly assembly-required desks and an increasing amount of busy-time all contribute to a problem that will continue to grow if we don’t become aware of it. We certainly can’t save kids from everything – nothing short of a cage around my high-chair would have saved me from falling-out and hitting right above my eye on a particularly odd-shaped kitchen cabinet pull when I was a toddler. But we can improve our awareness of our surroundings. And maybe one day some enterprising children’s rights advocate will get Home Depot and other stores to display the wire organizers and conduit right next to those nifty, plastic electrical outlet plugs and doorknob covers.

Have a baby or young child in the house? Here are some steps you can take to protect both them and your equipment!

1) Make sure anything heavy, expensive or both is on a sturdy desk/stand of adequate size
2) Tug on the furniture – if it wobbles even the slightest bit, consider attaching it to the wall (Hint – sit down or kneel on the floor to do this. The angle may make a difference and that’s where your child is tugging from)
3) Most power strips are wall-mountable to help keep them away from exploring hands. If your desk/stand is not open underneath, consider putting it behind and secure cords so they can’t be used to pull anything out
4) Especially if you need time to yourself to work, consider making your home office/computer room off-limits to children. (Kids are sneaky – if they are allowed inside when you are around, they will be more likely to creep in when you’re not!)
5) Be careful if you have a computer desk with doors to ‘hide’ your computer and power supply. Make sure there is adequate ventilation and a small child can’t just reach behind the desk to the open back!
6) Teach your child as early as you’re comfortable to be safe around equipment of any kind. Pretty soon, they’ll be sitting in your computer chair and you’ll be wondering how they got *that* up on the screen!

It should be mentioned that, in addition to children, adults over 60 also have an increasing rate of injury from computer equipment. In that age group, it’s mostly from tripping-over equipment that is in the way. If you get a computer for your older parent(s) or take care of someone in your home, keep them in mind, too! Have a designated place for the computer(s) and make sure it’s as out-of-the-way as possible.