There are some great applications out there for your smartphone – and a lot of them are free to download and use. No matter who your carrier is, or which phone you have, you can find apps that appeal to your interests. Here are some that I use, or that have been recommended to me. I’ve also included the links so you can add them to your smartphone!
Cocktail Flow – because not everyone still has a copy of Mr. Boston De Luxe Official Bartender’s Guide in their liquor cabinet – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Dropbox – connect all of your devices (laptop, tablet, phone) and access all of your files in one place! (Did you remember to backup your data today? Dropbox does it for you.) – Apple/ iTunes or Android
FxGuru – add special effects to your boring home video – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Google Translate – This app translates text, symbols, and speech! – Apple/ iTunes or Android
IMDb – Best place to find out what your favorite actor/director/producer is working on this year – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Peppa’s Paintbox – because you’re still a kid at heart – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Shazam – you’re listening to a tune, but can’t remember the title? Shazam it! – Apple/ iTunes or Android
SwiftKey Keyboard – “super-accurate autocorrect and intelligent next-word prediction”. I’d like some of that! – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Twickets – lets you buy and sell extra tickets at (or below) face value. Scalpers go elsewhere! – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Weather Underground – one of the best weather apps out there – Apple/ iTunes or Android
Which apps are your favorites? Let us know in the comments below!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more at www.GeekForHireInc.com. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides (Tier 3) onsite service to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
We’ve been doing a lot of Data Recovery lately so I asked Chris to tell us what is involved in Data Recovery and how it is different from Data Transfer.
Updated: October 2020
Although Data Transfer and Data Recovery are similar phrases, they are different in important ways.
Data Transfer:
Data transfer is the act of copying data directly from one device to another. (For example when you purchase a new Mac and need to transfer your data from your old PC.) Data transfer tends to be much faster than Data Recovery, because it uses the native copy function provided by the Operating System. But, if there are physical problems on the device, or if the file system on the device is corrupt, data transfer will not work because it is not tolerant of errors.
Exploding Disk Drive!
Data Recovery:
Data recovery is performed by specialized software that is tolerant of physical disk errors and errors in the file system. It takes much more time to perform Data Recovery because the process has several steps.
Although Data Recovery is much slower to produce a Gigabyte of data, it is tolerant of errors so it is capable of getting to files and putting them back together.
There are five main steps in Data Recovery:
Is the device accessible?
if the disk controller is unresponsive, we would need to replace that and retest;
Sometimes the disk does not physically turn. We will not attempt to fix;
if the disk “clicks” when it is turned on, this indicates internal damage within the hard drive which we will not attempt to fix;
The data could be overwritten. We will not know this until after the data is recovered and you have inspected your data
Media Analysis (to find where the good data blocks and the bad data blocks are)
File Analysis (to discover what disk blocks comprise which files and folders, and in what order)
Data Selection (to choose which files and folders should be recovered because they are interesting and necessary, and which files and folders should not)
Data Production (the act of creating new files from the recovered data onto an external hard drive).
How we do Data Recovery:
Our method of recovering data is “Read Only”, meaning that we will not open the hard drive to get to your data; We will connect your hard drive to an adapter, and attempt to access the data through the disk. We will not open your hard drive because we don’t have a “Clean Room”, and we don’t have the spare parts or the specialized equipment necessary to transfer your platters to another drive in a way that would work and not damage your data. If we were to physically open your hard drive, we would introduce significant contamination to your disk, and this would not improve the chances of getting back your data.
What if we can’t get your data?
We are usually successful, and we can determine in a reasonable amount of time whether Data Recovery is something we are likely to be successful in doing or not. If we find that we cannot access your data, we will stop work. Proceeding will not improve the chances of getting your data.
If we cannot get your data, and you have a business case for getting your data, we recommend that you send your hard drive to one of the major data recovery companies and not to a local company which says they can do it. Because you only get “one bite of the apple” to recover your data. They would need to be able to open the disk in a “clean room”. In addition, they must have the resources to get your data, because there is a serious risk that your drive will be polluted by their attempt.
There are a handful of Data Recovery companies in the country which specialize in recovering data from physically bad hard drives. They have a clean room, spare parts, and invasive methods of getting your data. They charge a lot more than we do and are almost always successful. Just a reminder that we sometimes recommend resources that we love. Some of those resources may pay us a small commission if you click on the links, at no additional cost to you.
We’ve had a long relationship with DriveSavers and are pleased with their work. We refer one to three people to them every year. Here is their info and a discount code:
And if you want to see how DriveSavers works, watch this video, then click on the link above for the discount code:
Success!
Our most exciting Data Recovery story happened several years ago. There was a fire near Gold Hill, Colorado. Our customer’s home survived the fire. The next spring, however, with all the snow melt and spring rains, a mud slide buried their basement. Their computer was covered in several feet of mud. Chris carefully cleaned the machine and then started the data recovery process. Success!
Windows or Mac?
We can recover data from Windows or Mac hard drives. The device can be formatted using the Windows filesystem or for the Mac filesystem. It doesn’t matter to us if the computer that the device came from is bootable or not. The device will be removed from the “source” computer. It will then be connected to an adapter. This will allow the data to be accessed directly.
Let us know if you have any questions about this process. Give us a call or send an email.
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area. We provide remote service throughout North America.
Do you ever find yourself frustrated when searching for something on the internet? You either get too much information, or it’s hard to find exactly what you’re looking for. Here are some tips that I use to streamline my searching:
EXACT MATCH:
When you use quotation marks, you only search for what is inside the quotes. For example:
Coffeehouses “live music”
will bring up all the coffeehouses that have live music.
EXCLUSION:
When you use the minus sign, you’ll exclude that information from your search. For example:
“Republican candidates” -“Donald Trump”
will bring up information about all the Republican candidates except Donald Trump.
WILD CARD:
When you use the asterisk with another word or phrase, you’ll get lots of different options. For example:
Hollywood *
will provide results like “Hollywood Bowl”, “Hollywood Blacklist”, and “Hollywood movies”.
SPECIFIC WEB SITE:
Do you want to search within a specific web site? Use “site:website”. For example:
“Jerry Lewis” site:nyt.com
will bring up articles relating to Jerry Lewis on the New York Times site.
MORE:
Have you used Google’s Search Tabs? Underneath Google’s search bar, there are a number of options:
WEB NEWS IMAGES VIDEOS BOOKS MORE SEARCH TOOLS
NEWS:
If you are looking specifically for a news story that occurred in the last 24 hours, follow these steps:
Enter your search terms in the search bar.
Click on the News tab.
Click on the Search Tools Tab
Click on “Anytime” and select “24 hours” from the drop down menu
IMAGES:
If you’re looking for an image, enter a description in the search bar and click on the Images Tab. If you want to fine tune your search, you can add other criteria. Click on “Search Tools” and select the color, type of image, usage rights, etc.
LOCATION:
If you want to find something in a particular location, click on “Search Tools”, then click on “Location”, then type in where you would like to search. For example:
“Hot Springs” California
will bring up a list of all the hot springs in California.
Have you used these tips before for searching? Are there other tips you use? Please share them in the comments below!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
Did you ever try to connect to WiFi and see a Hotspot choice like “Sam’s phone”? The fictional Sam has set his SmartPhone up to “tether” to the cell system so that his phone can send out a WiFi signal.
What is tethering? MobileBurn explains it this way:
“Tethering is the process of using a cell phone or smartphone as a modem for a personal computer of some sort – typically a laptop computer. The term gets its name from how a phone is attached, or tethered, to the computer via a USB cable, but wireless technologies such as Bluetooth can also be used for tethering. Typically the network carrier and the user’s account (contract) have to support tethering before it can be used. Many networks charge an additional fee for users that wish to connect their phones as tethered modems because it typically uses far more data than using the phone normally would.“
There’s more information about tethering on Wikipedia.
Chris’ iPhone recently stopped working and he had to get a new one. (Just don’t ask him when the last time was that he backed up his old iPhone and please, please don’t ask him about all the photos on that phone!) He got a new cell phone with Verizon service. We wanted to know how the coverage differed in the Geek For Hire service area. He also had tethering turned on so that he can use his laptop in an area without WiFi. So far we’re pleased – not only with the WiFi tethering, but also with Verizon’s coverage. Plus, there doesn’t seem to be an extra monthly charge for the service, so long as we don’t use more than the 3gig of data we signed up for.
If you do decide to turn on tethering, remember that it will drain the battery of your SmartPhone much faster than just using that same phone for cell service. Think about getting a battery case. (Mophie and LifeProof are two that come to mind.)
Here are some other articles that describe tethering:
If your current SmartPhone allows tethering, you may have to call your carrier (or bring it in to a store) to get the capability turned on.
Do your use tethering? Are you using an app, or do you have your SmartPhone switched on to allow it? Let us know about your experiences in the comments below!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
It’s important for Chris and Geek For Hire to keep up new technology, different trends, and any up and coming changes in technology. That’s why Chris is constantly reading and learning about what’s going on in the tech world. Some of his favorites include:
Ars Technica– http://arstechnica.com/ – Founded in 1998, it caters to the “alpha-geeks”. Their vision was to be “technically savvy, up-to-date, and more fun” than what was currently popular in the space. ” One of their current articles is about Google’s new OnHub router.
Fast Company – http://www.fastcompany.com/ – Launched in 1995, Fast Company has “a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design.” FastCo has the technology news that the other sites have, but that’s not their only focus. Here’s an article about comic books turned into movies.
Morning Ticker – http://www.morningticker.com/ – is relatively new Founded in 2014, MorningTicker covers the latest news, offering breaking news and analysis of the biggest trends and happenings around the world. Chris has been following the Jeep hacking issue and was interested to see that Uber seems to be taking advantage of this flaw.
Slate– http://www.slate.com/articles/technology.html?wpisrc=burger_bar – is a daily news magazine founded in 1996. With so many people still insisting that Mac’s and Apple iPhones are impervious to malware, Chris found this article very interesting.
Wired – http://www.wired.com/ – We’ve been receiving Wired Magazine since the very beginning – 1993. They made the jump to the internet early on and is one of Chris’ go-to sites for news. More Uber news – this time involving the NYC taxi system.
Where do you get your technology news? Please share in the comments below!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more at www.GeekForHireInc.com. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area. They can provide remote service throughout North America.
We’ve been doing a LOT of data recovery work lately. Hard Drives are crashing. Computers are getting really bad viruses. It’s stressful and can get to be pretty expensive. So, please, please, back up your data!
When? Here’s a handy chart:
If you need help setting up your backup system, just let us know. We can help you backup to an external hard drive, to the cloud, or both!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
A few weeks ago, I asked Chris about Windows 10. Should I upgrade right away, or wait awhile? What should I tell our customers and readers of the blog? His answer was basically:
“Unless you have a reason to stay with your current operating system (and especially if you have Win8), it should be fine to upgrade.”
Well, he’s changed his mind.
Windows 10 has been plagued with issues, especially for computers without the capacity to properly run it. So, if you have Windows XP, or Windows Vista machine without a modern processor and upgraded RAM, you should do those upgrades first, or consider a new machine with Windows 10 already installed.
Chris has also talked with other people that have upgraded with zero problems. One guy said that the upgrade “breathed new life into his laptop”. Chris added:
“Of course, it could just be that we’re only getting calls from folks who are having issues!”
Another huge issue with Windows 10 that is just starting to come to light, is the amount of information that Microsoft collects. The collected data isn’t just for targeted advertising A recent article in Wired states:
“Of course, Microsoft’s privacy statement outlines all the data that is collected, and you agreed to this when you downloaded Windows 10 and checked the terms of service.
In this Age of the Unread Terms of Service Agreement, it’s important to, well, read the ToS. It’s too easy for our technologies to gather personal information without our realizing it. Microsoft is far from the only perpetrator…”
Of course, in order to actually use Windows 10, you do have to agree to the Terms of Service. Once the new Operating System is installed, you should change the privacy and tracking settings.
So Chris’ new advice is to wait until you have a real need before installing the Windows 10 Operating System. Windows 10 doesn’t really give you much more than Windows 7. You don’t really need to run right out and get it now. If you’ve already upgraded to Windows 10, what was your experience?
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
The scammers are getting better and better. The text of the email looks legit; the email address looks legit; the graphics are professional. How can you tell when your phone company is contacting you vs. when a scammer is impersonating your phone company?
A client received this email last week and gave us a call.
Everything looked good on the email that she forwarded to me. I hovered over all of the links to see what website they actually pointed to. I looked at the logos, and they actually looked like the real ones. A quick search shows that both “Digital Vault” and “@Ease” are real CenturyLink services. Even the deadline, almost three months in the future, seemed like a legitimate phone company corporation deadline.
The only trouble was that our client had no recollection of signing up for a CenturyLink cloud based storage or “Digital Vault”.
She said that she was going to call CenturyLink about this and I urged her to call a number that she already had, rather than any phone numbers included in the email. When she called CenturyLink, they told her it was a scam and asked that she forward the email to them.
So that’s my advice this week – If you receive an email from a company you have a business relationship with, AND, you’re not expecting an email from then, give them a call on a number you already have saved for them.
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PC’s for the past fourteen years. His company is highly rated by both the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and by Angie’s List. You can find more on our website. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.
We frequently drive along the Peak to Peak Highway. Usually I know I should just keep my phone tucked away because it’s not going to work. But sometimes, you really need to make a phone call or send a text. Here are some of the more reliable places to get AT&T cell service in the mountains from Estes Park to Black Hawk:
Estes Park has pretty good service throughout the city. Lily Lake, just south of Estes Park. Photo courtesy of http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/lily-lake-loop.htm
The highway near Lily Lake has surprisingly good service.
Service is sparse or non-existent until Gordon’s Gulch, near mile marker 37.5.
The next spot is just north of Sugarloaf Road, for about a half mile.
In Nederland, service is pretty good from Magnolia road on the south to the Community Center on the North. Service is very good from the Black Forest restaurant to the Fire Station.
Heading south out of Nederland, you can get a cell signal for much of the highway all the way to the Gilpin High School. There are small sections where there’s no service at all, and other sections where the service is marginal. So, if you need to place a phone call or send a text, here are some places to try:
You can get a reasonably good signal for about a 1/2 mile both north and south of Rollinsville, around mile marker 21.
Service is pretty good near the Lump Gulch Creek, from about mile marker 17.5 to mile marker 19. You can get a signal near the Last Shot restaurant, but it’s not a strong signal!
Service near the Gilpin County Library isn’t great, but it’s usable.
Just south of the intersection of Highway 46 and 119, south to mile marker 12, service is good.
From mile marker 12 to the Gilpin County School, cell service is usable.
The City of Black Hawk has very strong service.
I hope this helps you as you explore the mountains west of the Front Range. Let us know if you know of any additional spots!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PCs for the past eighteen years. Angie’s List and the BBB rate Geek For Hire very highly. You can find more on our website, or give us a call 303-618-0154. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area as well as remote service throughout North America.
We’ve been using Amazon Prime for the past few years. We like the free and fast shipping. With Prime, we have access to online streaming too. Prime is usually $119/year, but you can get a free 30-day trial by clicking on this link: Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
I recently brought my sewing machine in to get fixed. It’s been sewing unevenly for the past several years, but I’ve just been living with it. I’ve been living with it partly because it “wasn’t that bad” and partly because I really didn’t know where to take it. Well, I finally realized how bad it was and asked around for a recommendation of where to take it. I made an appointment and brought it in. The nice woman behind the counter asked me how long it had been since my sewing machine had had a tune-up. I told her it had been at least ten years. She laughed (in a nice way) and told me they recommend a tune-up at least once a year.
I can understand that. In fact, I can solidly get behind that!
How many times do you wait and wait? How often have you thought “It’s not so bad. I can wait two minutes for my internet page to load.” or “It’s normal for my machine to shut down on its own, isn’t it?”
We recommend that our customers get an annual tuneup on their machines – for both PCs and Mac’s. Why? When I asked my friend Karen why she did, she answered: “In one word? Stress reduction.”
A few years ago, Karen got a nasty virus. Chris came out and cleaned it all up and she was pretty impressed. When it was time for her to get a new machine, she asked Chris for help in the selection process. I see her frequently and at least once a month she tells me how thrilled she is with her new machine. When she got a postcard from us reminding her that a year had already gone by, she called right away for her appointment. Chris checked it all out, deleted some unnecessary files that were gunking up the works, scanned for any viruses, and updated her new anti-virus, and she was good to go!
So, here is some of what happens during a tuneup:
Chris does a scan to make sure there aren’t any viruses.
He’ll do a general clean up to make the whole machine snappier.
If you don’t have an anti-virus, he’ll add one. If you do, he’ll make sure it’s up to date and accepting automatic updates.
Chris will make sure your operating system is updated with all the necessary file uploads.
He’ll answer any of your questions and provide training if you need that.
So now I know. My car needs a tune-up every 3-5000 miles. My sewing machine needs a tune-up every year. And now you know that your computer needs a tune-up every year too!
Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has been providing computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PCs for the past eighteen years. Angie’s List and the BBB rate Geek For Hire very highly. You can find more on our website, or give us a call 303-618-0154. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area as well as remote service throughout North America.
We’ve been using Amazon Prime for the past few years. We like the free and fast shipping. With Prime, we have access to online streaming too. Prime is usually $119/year, but you can get a free 30-day trial by clicking on this link: Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
