GFI Free Backup

Backup – Backup – Backup – just do it!

Here’s an other FREE program

GFI Backup – Home Edition.

It does file backups – not image backups.

Free Basic Movie Editor

Windows Live Movie Maker is a free download for Windows 7 or Windows Vista. It appears to be a nice option for people that just want to do basic movies. It uploads to YouTube and Facebook and allows you to make your own DVDs. The limitations are that it only will save in a WMV format and won’t allow you to do picture in picture or add a voice over.

Lots of Pictures? What’s Next?

If you’re coming back from vacation with hundreds or thousands of vacation pictures, your next step after moving them to your computer is figuring how to share them with friends and family. The problem these days is that everyone has a digital camera which takes pictures of ENORMOUS size. How can you get them down to size which are more reasonable and easy to send or load on a website. FastStone is one Free option which will allow you to resize, crop, reduce redeye, and all those basic functions you want to do before you release them to the world.

Two other great features is that it will do batch processing, you can change multiple files at one time, and you can also create a slide show. I’m impressed!

Why I Buy from BH PhotoVideo

One company that I can recommend without any reservations is B&H Photo-Video. I have spent thousands of dollars with them and always gotten great service and quality equipment. The picture to the left also shows the difference between them and the competition.

I order the same printer from B&H and one of the big box stores. Look at the difference in packaging. The printer on the right has no packaging other than what the printer came in. B&H encases the printer in large bubble wrap and puts it in a sturdy box.

As a former mailman I know how packages are treated and I appreciate the extra work that B&H does in getting their equipment packaged so that it will arrive without any damage.

Chart – Upgrading to Windows 7

Since I have Windows XP, it looks like I have to do a clean install or setup a dual-boot system.

Make sure you image your system drive and backup your data before installing Windows 7.

Saving Money on Phone Service

It’s amazing to me how some people will spend $200 a month for a fancy cell phone, when there are so many inexpensive options available. Here are a few I use or suggest.

Free	Google Voice	You can forward any incoming phone calls to your Google Voice phone number. Google Voice will record the call, transcribe it and send it to you email address.You can then send an SMS text message (FREE) to the number which called you. What I like about this is that I don’t have to talk to marketers and people who I’d rather forget.You can look at the email and just delete it. Note – some companies may charge you for call forwarding – mine (T-Mobile) does not. You can also enable “Do Not Disturb” on Google Voice so that the message is instantly recorded and transcribed. Google Talk is like Skype, just computer to computer, but I’m hoping that in the future I can use that feature to integrate it with Google Voice and be able place calls to a phone via my computer.
2 cents/minute – Call England	Google Voice	I use Google Voice to call my England number. It then calls my cell phone and connects me to England phone number.
2 cents/minute – call any phone in the Continental US	Skype	I use my USB VOIP phone  by Vondoo – $20
$2.95/mo	Skype	Call anywhere in the continental U.S. and Canada. Use a USB phone or headset. I don’t use this now, but the price is certainly cheap enough.
$10/mo	T-Mobile@Home	This uses a router and seems great except you have to already have a cell phone package with them and sign a 2 year contract.
$50/month	T-Mobile	Cell phone – Two Lines – 1000 minutes/mo.(This is my main phone.) Note – they don’t offer this anymore.
$25/month	Vonage	Internet Phone – I used to have this but had problems. I still need a cell-phone, and this is certainly higher than TMoible @Home
$45/month	Straight Talk	Unlimited minutes and Text in U.S. (I don’t have this – I need two lines.)
Overseas	Article	Buy a cheap phone in the country you are visiting and a new SIM card with 1000 minutes. When you go to a new country, buy a different SIM card for that country. (I haven’t tried this, but will on some upcoming trips.)
What’s Your Plan and How Do You Save $$$ ?

Skype Kills Gmail

After installing the latest Skype I noticed that whenever I went to Gmail and my Contacts, Firefox would crash and die.  I first blamed Firefox and changed versions, but no matter what I did Gmail kept causing Firefox to die. I then got the bright idea to look at my Firefox extensions and there was the newly installed Skype extension for Firefox. I disabled the extension, rebooted and Gmail was reborn and working fine. I did later find some postings where other people had similar problems. While I like Skype, it needs to learn to play nice with Gmail.

Is This Site Down?

I’m sure you’ve had the experience (like yesterday), where you’ve gone to a website and nothing works. You start getting panicky and try other sites and they seem to be ok. Now what the heck is going on?

There’s a site which can give you an answer.
Down For Everyone or Just Me gives you the opportunity to check out your site and see just what the heck is going on. Type in the site name in the box and it will come back with an answer. Hallelujah!

XP to Windows 7

In just 2 1/2 months, Oct. 22nd, you’ll be able to buy or upgrade to Windows 7 from XP. Paul Thurrott, provides a great tutorial for the process and all your different options. (click here)