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Reading E-books: iPad or Kindle?

Reviewing the iPad and the Kindle Is Like Comparing Apples and Oranges—or Apple and Amazon.

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Digital Dave

by Digital Dave

Digital Dave answers your tech questions.

42 MB Video Stuck in MS Office 2007 Outbox; Trojan Lost Microsoft Word; Web Browser Cookies.

E-book Reader Match Up

by Jack Dunning

Comparing Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle for a good read.

During Jack's recent experiences with e-books he has primarily been working with two devices, Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle. He shares his thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of each device for reading e-books.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

by Wally Wang

Disruptive Technology

Disruptive technologies; Skype alternatives; business users choose the iPhone/iPad; yanking video and audio off a Web site; converting files online; CorelCAD available on Windows and Mac OS X; Educate Yourself; Go => Enclosing Folder on the Mac.

Linux Lessons: Tips and Tricks from Users

by Tony J. Podrasky

TIMER: A Simple Shell File Timer

Whether timing a soft boiled egg or a business phone call, the Linux script TIMER will do the job.

Beyond Personal Computing

by Marilyn K. Martin

Computing Under Extreme Duress

Marilyn shares some humorous anecdotes about physically dangerous computer problems and the ways in which these are dealt with.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

by ComputorEdge Staff

Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.

"Nagging Privacy Matters," "Streaming Netflix to TV," "E-Poetry Blast from the Past," "Apple vs Microsoft"

Send mail to ceeditor@computoredge.com with questions about editorial content.

Send mail to webmaster@computoredge.com with questions or comments about this Web site.

Copyright © 1997-2011 The Byte Buyer, Inc.

ComputorEdge Magazine, P.O. Box 83086, San Diego, CA 92138. (858) 484-1998

Click to Visit ComputorEdge™ Online on the Web!

Digital Dave

“Digital Dave answers your tech questions.”
by Digital Dave

42 MB Video Stuck in MS Office 2007 Outbox; Trojan Lost Microsoft Word; Web Browser Cookies.

42 MB Video in MS Office 2007 Outbox

Dear Digital Dave,

I tried to send a 42MB video to someone. It got stuck in my MS Office 2007 Outbox outgoing e-mail folder. I cannot delete it. The rest of my outgoing e-mails take forever to leave with this e-mail still hanging. How do I get rid of it?

Stephen Matejov

San Diego, CA

Dear Stephen,

That's one of the problems with e-mail. The e-mail servers have limits on how big the attachments can be, so rather than sending it the program just chokes. One of the reasons you can't delete the file is because the e-mail program will lock the file while it's attempting to send—which is almost continuously while you're online. First, you need to get the program to stop trying to send the file.

The most common solution is to take the program offline. Generally, this can be found at File => Work Offline. You may need to close and reopen the e-mail program after selecting Work Offline. Then you should be able to delete the large file in your Outbox.

The e-mail program in Office 97 may work a little differently. Checking the Microsoft site, it looks like going offline may be a little more complicated than I've suggested. You should follow their Office 97 Outlook suggestions.

If that doesn't work then you may need to search for the folder that holds the Outbox on your hard drive. This may be a hidden file. Once you find it you should be able to delete it with administrative permission. Make sure the e-mail program is closed. When you reload the program, it should recreate a new folder. However, I would follow all of the Microsoft recommendations before taking this step.

In the future, you should use a service such as YouSendIt for sending humongous files. (I'm not recommending YouSendIt in particular. There are many such free services. They just happened to be at the top of the Google search. It would be good if other readers would share their favorite service for sending large files.)

Digital Dave

Trojan Lost Microsoft Word

Dear Digital Dave,

I had a Trojan that my McAfee software removed. Since then, when I go to Start and select Microsoft Word, it claims not to be able to find it. If I bring up a previously written document it comes up in Microsoft Word and from there I can open a new document. Is there some way I can restore the Start Icon so I can start Microsoft Word?

Gene

Denver, CO

Dear Gene,

It sounds like you Microsoft Word shortcut has lost its way. There are a couple of ways to get it back on the right path. The fact that you can load the program when you click on a previous document proves that it is still there.

The first thing to check is the target of the Windows shortcut. Right-click on the shortcut, whether it is on the desktop, in the Start Menu, or on the Task Bar, and select Properties from the drop down menu. The Shortcut tab will display the Target path as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Properties windows for program shortcut in Windows.

If the field is blank or has the wrong target path, then the shortcut will not work. Possibly the Trojan was intercepting the shortcut with its own path which now, thankfully, would no longer be valid. You need to add the correct path.

If you're not sure of the correct path for the program then you can find it by launching the program in the manner you mentioned by double-clicking an older document. Once Word is loaded, open Windows Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC). You can find the program in the Processes tab, right-click and select Open File Location. This will open Windows Explorer at the proper folder. If you open the Properties for the folder, you can copy the path. That plus the program file name will make up the target path.

It's even quicker to make a new shortcut by right-clicking on the program file name and selecting Create Shortcut. You can then place it on the Desktop for later copying and/or moving to the Start Menu or Task Bar.

If you're having trouble identifying the correct program in the Processes tab of the Task Manager, pick the correct program in the Applications tab, right-click and select Go To Process. This will select the proper program name in the Processes tab.

Digital Dave

Web Browser Cookies

Dear Digital Dave,

Cookies have been with us since the first versions of the Web browser. Why were they included? Now that memory is cheap and computers are fast, they are not needed to refresh pages. Why not eliminate them entirely? Must every browser follow Microsoft's lead and include these space wasting spies?

Thank you,

Bob

San Diego, California

Dear Bob,

It appears that you may have some misconceptions about browser cookies. They are not really the bad guys that some people may make them out to be. In fact, these small files can help you in many ways.

First of all, they don't take up much space. It's true that every time you visit a new Web site, that site will put a cookie (maybe two or three) on your computer. You can prevent this by blocking cookies in your browser setup, but you may be giving up much more than you gain.

Second, the cookie has nothing to do with refreshing a Web page, although it may be read when a page is refreshed.

A cookie file is quite small, usually only consisting of a line or two to text, so they won't fill up your hard drive. If you do a lot of browsing to new Web sites, then you may accumulate a multitude of cookies, yet they probably still won't take up much hard drive space. There are some cookies which may be of value to you, but, if you like, you can delete some or all of the cookies in your browser setup.

The primary purpose the cookie is to give a Web site a way to recognize you when you return. The most basic function of the cookie is to save a caller id generated by the site. When you come back, the Web server reads the cookie (the server can only read its own cookies, not the ones from other sites) and says, "Hey, you were here before!" It still doesn't know who you are unless you gave the Web site information in your last session.

In some cases, your Web site preferences are kept in the cookie. This saves you from having to go through the setup process each time you visit. Often, the saved information, if any, may be as simple as your zip code directing your browser to the local information on the site. When you move from page to page within a Web site, some sites will pass data to the new pages to help your browsing experience. The cookie can be used to do this, although there are other ways for Web sites to pass information.

When you leave a Web site, a cookie could have recorded your last location. When you return, the site may use this information to help you take up where you left off.

As with any tools, cookies can be used as spies in a very limited way. There are tracking systems that attempt to use cookies to keep tabs on your movements, but they will only work when you are visiting sites within the collective group of sites doing the tracking. Again, the deletion of all your cookies will remove your tracks.

If you do the private or incognito browsing which is now offered with most newer Web browsers, the cookies are automatically deleted when you exit the browser. This is another way to cover your cookie trail.

If you see an option such as "Remember this computer" during a log in procedure, then most likely the cookie will be set to associate your computer with your account for that Web site. If you have cookies turned off, then your bank or other institution will not be able to offer this feature. In any case, you would only use this type of option on a private computer, since you wouldn't want to this data left on a public computer.

For the most part, cookies are not dangerous and they take up very little space. To find out if your favorite Web sites use cookies to save your preferences, or at least identify you before you log in, delete your cookies and then return to the site. If you are forced to go through the entire setup again, then your cookies were important for saving your preferences.

Today, most of your regular sites which require a log in probably are saving your preferences on the Web server. Once you log in, the server delivers your choices without consulting the cookie. Maybe your user name (hopefully, not the password) is being saved in the cookie, if you checked the box.

Digital Dave

E-book Reader Match Up

“Comparing Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle for a good read.”
by Jack Dunning

During Jack's recent experiences with e-books he has primarily been working with two devices, Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle. He shares his thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of each device for reading e-books.

I've been working on a program which converts the weekly ComputorEdge directly into an e-book. Plus, we've taken on the task of compiling Jim Whitings weekly cartoons into an e-book which will be marketed through various channels. In the course of this work, we have used both an Apple iPad and an Amazon Kindle to test the results. There are e-book readers for PC and Mac, but none of them seem to match the smoothness or quality experience that you get with an iPad or Kindle. If someone is considering either device as an e-book reader, then there are significant differences which should be weighed. (I haven't evaluated the Nook or other e-readers, so I can't comment on them. I would certainly be interested to hear about other experiences.)

Comparing the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle is certainly like arguing over the taste and color of apples and oranges. I can see where someone might want both reading devices, as well as, neither. The basic difference between the two is huge. The iPad is a one-handed multi-featured computer while the Kindle is a dedicated e-book reader with some Web browsing capability. The iPad is theoretically capable of doing almost anything that a regular (laptop or desktop) can do—although for serious computing work, the iPad doesn't actually compete with the power of a full-featured computer. (I know that some people would argue this last point, yet, unless you add equipment to turn the iPad into a laptop, even word processing on an iPad is literally like tying one hand behind your back. You can move lawn sod in the back seat of a luxury car rather than a pickup truck, but why would you?) The Kindle doesn't pretend to be a computer at all—only an e-reader with a Web browsing feature.

Most of the uses for the iPad fall into the area of entertainment—playing games, Web browsing, watching videos, e-mail, reading e-books, etc. There are contradictory numbers on how many owners read e-books on the iPad, but most fall in the range of 40 to 60 percent—well below the other common uses. It is now acknowledged that for many people the time on their iPad is being taken away from their computer. However, they are not abandoning their computer, but rather merely moving certain task such as game playing and Web browsing to the tablet. (Note: The camera on the new iPad 2 seems to be a bust as a reason to buy an iPad. Not many people seem to be using it.)

As a dedicated e-book reader, there is no doubt where the Kindle fits in. With the exception of the awkward Web browsing feature, there is no reason to own a Kindle other than to read books. If you are not an avid reader, then there is little or no need for you to continue with this comparison. Overall the iPad offers many more other entertainment options while still serving as an e-book reader. You can use your iPad with your Kindle account. Amazon has an iPad Kindle app which is very similar in look and feel to Apple's iBooks app. Yet, if you are a lover of a good read, then there are a number of compelling reasons for sticking with Kindle, while ignoring the other distractions you will have on the iPad. (This may all change if the rumors that Amazon will enter the tablet market with an Android product are true.)

Size and Weight

When holding a reading device for a long period of time the weight is significant. While differences may seem slight, they soon become noticeable.

The standard Kindle is much smaller and lighter than the iPad (about half the weight). While not too small to affect the reading experience, the Kindle is still compact enough to fit into a purse or coat pocket. When reading with an iPad, it has been noted that, after a few hours, it can feel quite heavy. The Kindle weighs less than the average paper back book. There is a larger Kindle DX available which is approximately the iPad's size, but it still weighs significantly less.

Figure 1. The weight of the Amazon Kindle for three models are all less than the iPad.

While the Kindle feels surprisingly light when you first pick it up, this is not so for the heavier iPad. There is a sense of sturdiness with iPad, although people do complain of mild finger fatigue when using the iPad without separate support for an extended period of time.

Figure 2. The original iPad weighs in at 1.5 pounds whereas the iPad 2 hits the scales at 1.35 pounds.

Reading Screen

The iPad screen can more closely be equated with the typical flat screen monitor. It is high resolution making the typeface in the e-books easy to read. It has a shiny surface which will accumulate finger prints and gives off a glare in certain lighting conditions. There is no problem reading in bed as the screen is bright, however the light may annoy any partner trying to sleep. It may be difficult to see the screen in bright sunlight. Most people commenting about the experience of reading e-books on the iPad state that it is pleasant and suitable for most situations.

The Kindle uses E Ink Pearl technology for displaying the book. This is touted to more closely mimic the paper reading experience—easier on the eyes and better for long periods of time. The screen is monochome as are most books. There is work being done to develop color e-ink technology, but it is expected to be at least a year or more before it is available. One major advantage to e-ink is very low use of power, which gives much longer times between battery charges than you can get with the iPad. The screen is not back lit, therefore you can't read in the dark. However, the screen is easily readable in bright sunlight, and, since it is not touch technology, fingerprints do not accumulate on the screen.

Device Operation

The iPad uses an intuitive touch system for turning pages and all other functions. It works well, although accidental contact with any finger can cause a number of pages to flip by. For searches and notes there is a pop-up keyboard. Changing the orientation of the iPad will put the iBooks reader in either a two-page landscape orientation (looks like a book) or a larger single-page portrait mode. You can quickly switch between the two orientations by rotating the table.

The Kindle uses cursor buttons to navigate the screen and page turning buttons on both sides of the device (for left-handed and right-handed people) for leafing through the book. Since there is no touch capability, the navigation through menus is a bit more awkward, especially with the built-in Web browser. The keyboard is built-in and with small keys may actually be harder to use than the iPad pop-up keyboard.

Battery Life

The iPad is limited to ten hours or less of operation between battery charges depending upon which apps are being used. This is better than a laptop computer and will usually not be a problem as long as there is a place to recharge the iPad. However, if you are on an extended camping trip or other activity with limited places to recharge, your iPad may soon become useless. This is unlikely to happen to a Kindle.

Since the Kindle uses e-ink, you may get up to 30 days operation without recharging depending upon how you use it (see Figure 1 above). When connected to Wi-Fi or 3G, the power consumption will be greater, yet even then it is far below that of the iPad. The reason for the low power consumption for the Kindle is the e-ink which only draws power when the page changes. The iPad will continually use the battery whenever it is turned on.

Wired and Wireless Connections

Both the iPad and the Kindle can be connected directly to your computer via the USB port. They will both charge while connected, even though the iPad may deny it is charging. E-books can be added to both while connected to the computer. The iPad will upload books via the iTunes program. (There is also a Kindle app for the iPad which can load e-books directly into the Kindle app via iTunes.) E-books can be loaded directly onto the Kindle by dragging files into the Kindle's Documents directory while it is connected to your computer.

All iPad and Kindles are Wi-Fi capable which allows remote operations. For the iPad, this means limitless apps of various natures. For the Kindle, it is access to the associated Kindle account for syncing and purchasing e-books and Web browsing, although the Kindle Web browser does not support downloading from third-party sites.

Both iPad and Kindle offer devices with 3G cellular Internet access. The major difference is that with the iPad 3G you are required to have an Internet package with a cellular company ($40 or more a month). On Kindle 3G, there is no additional contract required or monthly charge. This free Web browsing includes the United States and over 100 countries throughout the world. In spite of the somewhat difficult browsing, this free 3G feature alone could make it worthwhile to own a Kindle—even if you don't read books. Wi-Fi is great when you're sitting at home, but it doesn't work when you're in a moving car or you can't find a Wi-Fi hotspot.

iPad versus Kindle Cost

If you compare the price of the iPad ($499) with the Kindle DX ($389), they appear to be comparable. That is until you add 3G, which not only ups the iPad price, but requires a contract which could run $500 to $600 a year. If you want the smaller, more portable Kindle, then you can get the free 3G model ($189) for a little more than 1/3 of the iPad price with no 3G. If you don't mind ads on your Kindle screen saver when you're not reading, then you can get a Wi-Fi model for ($114).

Comparing Apple and Amazon

Apple's main concern is selling iPad and the other hardware they build. The company has made some noises about wanting to take a cut from all e-books sold for use on the iPad. But, if they follow through with that plan, they will lose focus and become mired in a mass of disputes with major book publishers and distributors, including Amazon. Ultimately, Apple will stick with what they do best—building and selling hardware.

Amazon wants to sell e-books. They don't care whether the books are sold for their iPad app or the Kindle. It's all the same to them. The reason for the existence of the Kindle is just to sell more books. Amazon would give the Kindle away (they practically do now) if they thought it would sell more books.

Whether you get an iPad or Kindle (or both) depends upon how much your life revolves around reading. Many people don't read enough books to ever bother with a Kindle. The limited reading they do will fit in nicely with the iPad. However, the voracious reader who always needs to have a book handy, may be best served by purchasing a Kindle. Then, the iPad is free for watching Netflix or playing games.

Jack is the publisher of ComputorEdge Magazine. He's been with the magazine since first issue on May 16, 1983. Back then, it was called The Byte Buyer. His Web site is www.computoredge.com. He can be reached at ceeditor@computoredge.com

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

“Disruptive Technology”
by Wally Wang

Disruptive technologies; Skype alternatives; business users choose the iPhone/iPad; yanking video and audio off a Web site; converting files online; CorelCAD available on Windows and Mac OS X; Educate Yourself; Go => Enclosing Folder on the Mac.

Many people get lost in the details and miss the bigger picture. When reading anything praising the iPad, too many people reacted negatively to the iPad itself, the company that made the iPad, or even the CEO of Apple. By focusing on these trivial details, they missed the bigger picture, which is the disruptive nature of tablet computers in general.

PC World has a list of some of the major disruptive technologies in recent history, such as the marriage of Internet access with cell phones or MP3 files with file-sharing sites like Napster. Notice that when these disruptive technologies first arrived, many people dismissed them, then criticized them, then when it became obvious that they were going to change the world, finally embraced them as if they had never objected to this technology in the first place.

Digital photography is another disruptive technology that everyone could see coming, yet so many people refused to accept the inevitable. It was easy to criticize early digital cameras for taking grainy pictures and being too expensive, but the benefits were easy to see and improving technology with lower costs also made it easy to see that film cameras had no future, regardless if they were made by Kodak or some other company.

To catch the early trend of any disruptive technology, just look for something completely different. Just because something is different doesn't mean it will be disruptive, but if something is simply an evolutionary improvement on existing technology, then it's almost certain never to be disruptive. That's why netbooks were never disruptive to anything but sales of more expensive laptops. Tablets are disruptive because it's a new way of using a computer.

To learn more about how to recognize and take advantage of disruptive technology, read Business Innovation and Disruptive Technology by Nicholas D. Evans. While the book mentions specific technology such as the idea of "software as service," similar to the cloud computing idea, the real value isn't the book's specific examples but in the thinking process that the book encourages.

After reading this book, you'll likely keep a sharper eye out for new technology that could possibly change the world. That simply means watching trends, using your imagination, and being willing to avoid falling in love with any particular product or company.

For your first test in evaluating disruptive technology, consider Google's latest Chrome OS on a netbook idea. The basic idea is to eliminate the hassle of maintaining a computer on your own. Instead, all your files and programs exist on Google's servers that you can access over the Internet.

By buying a netbook outright, you'll get stuck with something obsolete as time goes on. Google's idea is to rent you the netbook for a monthly fee. In return you get support and upgrades as long as you continue paying your bills.

Right away it's easy to hone in on the drawbacks of this approach, such as dependence on reliable servers holding all your data hostage, which is a problem that has plagued Google, Microsoft and Amazon recently. Setting aside these objections for now, look at the advantages, then determine if the advantages outweigh the drawbacks.

For big companies, the idea of paying a monthly fee that includes support and both hardware and software upgrades may be enticing. This will save costs on a mostly useless IT department while giving employees a simple computer that can do much of what they need without the burden of wrestling with Windows on a daily basis.

If the idea of a ChromeOS netbook doesn't sound appealing, Samsung is offering a ChromeOS desktop computer that mimics Apple's Mac mini's appearance. While a ChromeOS netbook may be useless without Internet access (think of being trapped on an airplane), a desktop ChromeOS computer will always have more reliable and faster Internet access.

TechCrunch believes that ChromeOS could capture part of the business market while Apple's iPad captures part of the business and consumer computing market. We already know how the iPad has disrupted the computer market. Now we just have to see how much ChromeOS might threaten the computer market and prove if it's an evolutionary advance or a more revolutionary one.

To get a true indication of ChromeOS's future, count how many "experts" proclaim that ChromeOS will be a total failure and utterly useless. The more older, tech-savvy men you hear declaring ChromeOS will utterly fail, the more likely ChromeOS may actually succeed.

Skype Alternatives

For some odd reason, Microsoft decided to buy Skype for $8.5 billion dollars. Microsoft already has their Windows Live Messenger technology that provides video and audio chat over the Internet, so Microsoft isn't buying the Skype technology so much as the Skype name and user base.

For those uncertain about Skype's future, try ooVoo, which works just like Skype, allowing you to make free phone calls over the Internet from a computer (Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux) or even a mobile phone with Wi-Fi access. America Online even offers another alternative called AV, which provides video chat capabilities within a browser running on Windows or Mac OS X.

A program like ooVoo may not be as well known as Skype, but since the software is free, someone just needs to download and install it, then start chatting away. Put Skype and ooVoo on all your computers and you can see whether Skype works better than ooVoo or vice versa.

Business Users Choose the iPhone/iPad

According to Intermedia, one of the world's largest Microsoft Exchange hosting providers, more business users are using the iPhone (61 percent) followed by Android (17 percent) with the rest of the competitors lumped together with much smaller individual shares.

Figure 1. The iPhone dominates business users with Android trailing behind.

The share of business users choosing an iPad over rivals such as the Motorola Xoom or Samsung Galaxy Tab is even more distinctive with the iPad gobbling up most of the tablet market while rivals cling to a meager share.

Figure 2. The iPad is more popular with business users than rival tablets.

The stark difference between the iPad and its competitors has nothing to do with technical capabilities, but its actual use. Both the iPad and Motorola Xoom cost about the same, yet it's easy to see how you can expand the versatility of an iPad by downloading apps while the Android tablet app market still lags far behind.

Eventually Android-based tablets will improve and might even catch up to the iPad, but they don't have the advantage of carrier-restrictions that handicapped the iPhone. Until Android-based tablets (along with Hewlett-Packard's webOS-based tablets) can offer more apps and attract more third-party support, the iPad is simply more versatile and attractive right out of the box. Getting an Android or webOS-based tablet today is like buying one of the first automobiles and waiting for someone to build the roads you need to drive it.

Bill Shope, an analyst with Goldman Sachs, has lowered his overall forecasts for the tablet industry. Shope claims that the problem lies with Android tablets, which aren't expected to sell as well due to "sub-par features, inadequate app libraries and high prices."

Yanking Video and Audio Off a Web Site

Many people might see a YouTube video and want to save it, but you can't just download a YouTube video as a file. As a roundabout alternative, you can capture this video using a screen capturing program such as Ambrosia Software's $69 Snapz Pr.

Snapz Pro can capture screenshots or videos, so you can play a YouTube video, capture it with Snapz Pro, and save the captured video file on your own computer. If you just want to record audio from something playing on your computer, use Ambrosia Software's $69 WireTap Studio program.

With WireTap Studio, you can record Skype audio phone calls. With Snapz Pro, you can record Skype or FaceTime video calls as well. To see how you can use these two tools together, watch this YouTube video that I put together to create a mock Microsoft Windows commercial.

First, I found several video clips that I wanted to use, so I captured them using Snapz Pro. Then I found some audio effects on the Internet that I captured using WireTap Studio. Finally, I dragged and dropped all of these separate video and audio files into iMovie to create a fake Microsoft "I'm a PC" commercial.

Figure 3. Using iMovie to integrate separate audio and video files into a single video.

The silliness of Microsoft's "I'm a PC" commercials stems from the fact that it partially depends on people knowing that it's derived from Apple's "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" commercials, which are no longer airing. So having different people claim that "I'm a PC" sounds odd since nobody ever says that in real life.

In Microsoft's "I'm a PC" commercials, various people talk about different features of Windows and claim that it was their idea, indirectly implying that Windows is full of useful features that people want. Here's a better idea. Rather than just have people talk about a Windows feature and claim that it was their idea, why not actually show that feature in action so people can see how that feature might be useful and attractive to make them want Windows 7? That's exactly what Apple does to intrigue people about the benefits of the iPad.

In making my own Windows "I'm a PC" commercial, I used iMovie because it was easy and fast. It may not be designed for professionals to make the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but it's simple enough to use without reading a thick manual or being bombarded with complexity. When I finished making my video in iMovie, I simply uploaded it directly to YouTube from the iMovie menu.

With iMovie, technology gets out of the way to make it easy to do something difficult. With too many programs, technology acts as a barrier that prevents most people from using it except for the handful who devote their lives to learning its arcane structure.

Any company could focus on creating products that makes technology easy, but so many companies don't. Instead, too many companies focus on creating technology and leaving it up to the user to figure out how to make it useful, which attracts the tech-savvy crowd, but ignores everyone else. If companies are going to copy Apple, why not copy this simple strategy first?

Converting Files Online

If you need to convert audio, video, e-book, archive, or other types of files, you have several options. The most common option is to load your file in a program and then save or export it out as another file format. This works fine if you happen to have a program that can perform such file format conversions. If you don't have such a program handy, visit the Online-Convert site instead.

Figure 4. Upload a file to this site and it will send back the converted file.

Just choose the file format you need, upload a file to this site, and after a minute or two, it will send back your converted file free of charge. Obviously this free service can't convert all types of files, but it can convert a surprisingly large variety of files so give it a try and see if the results are what you need.

CorelCAD Available on Windows and Mac OS X

In the old days, software companies often released programs for Windows only. Occasionally, they offered a Macintosh version, but the Macintosh was always considered a secondary market that wasn't as important. That's not the case any more.

Many companies now make sure that their software runs on both Windows and Mac OS X. AutoCAD released a version that runs on the Macintosh and Corel recently announced their own CAD solution called CorelCAD, which runs on both Windows and Mac OS X.

Like AutoCAD, CorelCAD can also open .dwg CAD files, but unlike AutoCAD ($3,995), CorelCAD only costs $699. CAD software is no longer limited to Windows alone, which gives one less reason to stick exclusively with Windows. While CorelCAD may not be as full-featured as AutoCAD, it may do just what you need so download a free trial and see for yourself.

Educate Yourself

Learning is fun; it's school that often proves dreary, unappealing and dull. In school, the primary goal is to pass a test, which often means studying not for the sake of learning, but to get a passing grade. Few people learn best under the pressure of constant judgment of your intellect through grades and test scores, yet this is how schools typically work.

On the other hand, many adults take business seminars after they get a job because they want to learn something new, and these seminars rarely operate by applying the same mental anguish as a typical classroom with arbitrary grading systems. Instead, seminars exist for the sole purpose of delivering useful information to participants. Seminar participants often leave feeling empowered while students in a typical classroom often leave with a feeling of relief from the tedium of studying.

If you want to learn, but don't like the pressure of grades or tests, browse through iTunes University. Just load iTunes, click on the iTunes Store link in the left panel under the STORE category, and then click iTunes U and then choose from a variety of classes from universities around the world.

Figure 5. iTunes U in iTunes gives you access to college courses for free.

One problem you'll notice right away is that many iTunes University courses are simply recorded lectures from the classroom. If you can sit still for an hour and watch someone at the front of a classroom speak and perhaps display an occasional presentation or two, you might find these classes entertaining. Otherwise, you might find them fairly dull and unappealing.

For free courses, you can't complain too much, but if you prefer a more engaging approach, spend the money to buy a CD or DVD course from The Great Courses (or just borrow them from your local library). These courses typically cost one hundred dollars or more, but they're geared for people who may have no background on the subject, but want to learn anyway. Best of all, the video production quality is far superior to having someone set up a video camera and record a professor speaking in a typical classroom where students fidget in their seats.

More importantly, the Great Courses lectures are short and fascinating since they appeal directly to your sense of curiosity and wonder. In comparison, too many college professors lecture in a classroom to a captive audience so they put much less emphasis on presenting the information in an interesting, entertaining and compelling manner. Yet the Great Courses are also presented by college professors from around the country. The big difference is that the Great Courses strive for education as entertainment while typical college lectures simply bombard students with information with little or no context for how this might be useful or interesting beyond memorizing to pass a test.

The Great Courses show how education can be fun and intellectually stimulating. After finishing a Great Course, you'll want to learn more while after finishing a typical college course, you'll often want to forget the whole dreary experience by drowning your memories of the class in several pitchers of beer, since the idea of passing out and throwing up on your shoes is more mentally stimulating than sitting through another dry college course.

You can find interesting college lectures on iTunes University, but while they emphasize the details of a topic without explaining why you might care, the Great Courses strip away the details of a topic and just focus on teaching the main idea. Once you understand the main idea, then you'll be better prepared and motivated to learn and understand the specific details, which goes to show that even the best information by itself is meaningless if it isn't presented in a way that makes it easy for people to access.

*                    *                    *

When you're digging through the Finder to rummage through multiple folders buried inside of other folders, it's easy to lose track of where you are. One way to reorient yourself in your folder hierarchy is to choose Go => Enclosing Folder. This command simply jumps you up to the folder that holds the current list of files in your Finder window.

If you don't like using this pull-down menu in the Finder, just press Command+Up arrow to choose the same Enclosing Folder command.

Figure 6. The Go => Enclosing Folder can help you navigate through the Finder window.

In the early days, before Wally became an Internationally renowned comedian, computer book writer, and generally cool guy, Wally Wang used to hang around The Byte Buyer dangling participles with Jack Dunning and go to the gym to pump iron with Dan Gookin.

Wally is responsible for the following books:

My New Mac,

My New iPhone,

My New iPad,

Steal This Computer Book 4.0,

Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies,

Beginning Programming for Dummies,

Beginning Programming All-in-One Reference for Dummies,

Breaking Into Acting for Dummies with Larry Garrison,

Strategic Entrepreneurism with Jon Fisher and Gerald Fisher,

How to Live With a Cat (When You Really Don't Want To).

Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners

The 15-Minute Movie Method

In his spare time, Wally likes blogging about movies and writing screenplays at his site "The 15 Minute Movie Method" along with blogging about electronic publishing and how authors can take advantage of technology at his site "The Electronic Author." Wally can be reached at wally@computoredge.com.

Linux Lessons: Tips and Tricks from Users

“TIMER: A Simple Shell File Timer”
by Tony J. Podrasky

Whether timing a soft boiled egg or a business phone call, the Linux script TIMER will do the job.

TIMER is one in a series of Linux scripts offered in this column which are designed to accomplish simple tasks while providing quick tools for Linux users.

Filename: TIMER

Use: Simple shell file timer that starts at 00:00:00 and counts the time until you give it a Control-C.

How it works:

#!/bin/csh -f

[Use the csh interpreter.]

set s = 0

[Variable s stands for seconds.]

set m = 0

[Variable m stands for minutes.]

set h = 0

[Variable h stands for hours.]

while (1)

[Execute loop forever.]

echo

[Adds a new line to the printout. Remove it if you want the numbers next to each other.]

if ($h < 10) then

[Test if the hours are less then 10 (i.e. a single digit).]

echo -n 0$h":"

[If so, when the hours are printed, add a leading zero.]

else

[Otherwise.]

echo -n $h":"

[Just print the hours.]

endif

[End of test.]

if ($m < 10) then

[Test if the minutes are less then 10 (i.e. a single digit).]

echo -n 0$h":"

[If so, when the minutes are printed, add a leading zero.]

else

[Otherwise.]

echo -n $h":"

[Just print the minutes.]

endif

[End of test.]

@ s = ($s + 1)

[The variable s equals the value of itself plus 1.]

if ($s == 60) then

[If s is now equal to 60.]

set s = 0

[Then set s to 0.]

@ m = ($m + 1)

[And add 1 to m.]

if ($m == 60) then

[If m is now equal to 60.]

set m = 0

[Then set m to 0.]

@ h = ($h + 1)

[And add 1 to h.]

endif

[End of the first "if" test.]

endif

[End of the second "if" test.]

sleep 1

[Pause the program for 1 second.]

end

[End of the "while" loop.]

The "sleep" function is a low-priority system interrupt and does not necessarily get servicedin a timely manner. In other words, it's fine for timing hard boiled eggs, but I wouldn't useit to measure the velocity of a .22 LR round.

———————————————CUT HERE———————————————

#!/bin/csh -f

set s = 0

set m = 0

set h = 0

while (1)

echo

if ($h < 10) then

echo -n 0$h":"

else

echo -n $h":"

endif

if ($m < 10) then

echo -n 0$m":"

else

echo -n $m":"

endif

if ($s < 10) then

echo 0$s

else

echo $s

endif

@ s = ($s + 1)

if ($s == 60) then

set s = 0

@ m = ($m + 1)

if ($m == 60) then

set m = 0

@ h = ($h + 1)

endif

endif

sleep 1

end

———————————————CUT HERE———————————————

NOTE: I give my shell files uppercase names so that I know they are my shell files and not the system's binaries. For example, when I save the data (the commands between the "CUT HERE" lines, which is the actual shell file) I might call it "VI", which is not to be confused with the system's "vi" file—but I call it "VI" because it calls (or uses) the system's "vi editor."

Tony has been in the computer field since 1976 when he started working for Data General Corp as a field engineer. Later going on to design hardware interfaces, write patches for operating systems, and build networks. It was in 1995 while working with the military on several projects that he ran into a "spook" who showed him a laptop that ran a then-unknown O/S called "Linux." "A laptop running a form of UNIX tony = a marriage made in heaven!" Tony can be reached for questions at Linux Questions for Tony.

Beyond Personal Computing

“Computing Under Extreme Duress”
by Marilyn K. Martin

Marilyn shares some humorous anecdotes about physically dangerous computer problems and the ways in which these are dealt with.

Computer professionals who have worked in the industry for decades, and more than one home PC user, have a few stories to tell of their experiences with a computer incident that required a fire extinguisher—or a sledge hammer. These are those rare occasions when trying to use a computer with a sudden and serious problem, or responding to such a computer crisis, should come with hazard duty pay.

Flames and Explosions

First of all, why do we feel one step removed from any possible harm while safely inside our homes or offices? To the point that people with an extreme computer crisis decide to first call Tech Support?

"My terminal is smoking and shooting sparks. Should I unplug it?" was one such call to a Help Desk. Or consider the gentleman with a thick Russian accent who called up to ask, "Monitor is working fine, but has sparks and smoke flying out back. Is OK?" Then there was the user who called up to report, "Hi, Tech Support? Um, my printer smells funny, and it's smoking."

And how about the Tech who got one of those total meltdown calls, that smoke and flames were coming out of a user's computer. His instructions were simple but firm: "Immediately unplug the computer! Hang up the frickin' phone! And call the Fire Department!" But the user had just one more tiny concern. "First I need to know how to do a backup. Fastest possible method."

Or consider this call to a Help Desk about a sparking computer. The Tech asked what color the sparks were, since blue sparks mean a not-so-bad static discharge. While yellow sparks mean something more serious. The user started arguing with the Tech, since she was anxious to plug her yellow-sparking modem back in, and get on with her work. "Ma'am, if you plug your modem back in," instructed the Tech firmly, "We will not be liable for any damages incurred to your computer or your home!" That stopped the user cold. "Well, OK. I don't want to have to pay for anything ..."

Then there was the student in the UK, who received a CD with an ISP (Internet Service Provider) from an American friend. Despite warnings, he installed it while his UK computer was running, and changed the voltage switch to American Power: "Help Desk? Uh, my computer just exploded ..."

Another Support Tech received a panicked, "Help! I just blew up my computer! What do I do?" The Tech asked enough questions to discover that the panicked user had accidentally stepped on his power strip, turning everything off. The monitor had made a slight popping sound as it shut down, just as the user's cigar smoke was curling around the monitor.

So the user was certain everything had just blown up. By the time the Tech had settled the user down and explained everything, the customer had already emptied an entire fire extinguisher onto his computer.

"Hi, Tech Support? Can you help me? I got curious and opened up my computer. And I saw all these wires dangling all over the place. So I decided to plug 'em all in to whatever pins didn't already have wires on them. You know, to make my computer run better. But then, when I hit the Power button, there was this loud bang, a flash and a puff of smoke. Now it doesn't work at all." (Silence. The Support Tech was doubled over in laughter, gasping for breath, while his coworkers were becoming concerned that he'd had some medical attack. No, the Tech later explained. It was just another user PEBKAC Error: "Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair".)

"Hi, Tech Support? I think my monitor has a problem. I can see red hot components when I look in my monitor through that big smoking hole." Yes, that would be a problem alright.

In March 2011, there was a fire in a computer server at a hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota. This mainly affected the switchboard, with incoming calls not directed to an extension. A local article noted "Callers can still call the hospital in an emergency. But they may get a busy signal, and may have to try repeatedly to get through." (Suggestion: In a medical emergency, stick with 911.)

Liable Laptops

A Dell laptop suddenly burst into flames at a conference in Japan in 2006. It was sitting alone on a conference table, eliminating any suspicious user-error. So it resulted in no injuries—but lots of cell phone video.

When the videos (typically) hit YouTube, other people started reporting burst-into-flames problems with laptops from various companies. The computer companies, in turn, blamed Sony's overheating lithium-ion batteries. By summer 2006, Dell, Apple, Toshiba and Lenovo announced laptop and notebook recalls. And in October 2006, Sony announced a large-scale recall of their lithium-ion laptop batteries.

Industrial Abuse

A steelworks company needed a new computer to run some of their production software. A computer company modified a computer to do what the steel plant needed, demoed it at the computer office, and let the steelworks people take it away and install it. Within a week, the steel plant people called to say that their new computer was totally dead.

The computer store dispensed Techs to the steelworks to see what the problem was. They found the computer in a walled-off, non-air-conditioned space on the foundry floor. The area had no roof, was between two large electric-arc furnaces, and was ankle-deep in clinker and rust. The computer was almost too hot to touch, since the inside fan unit was clogged with iron-oxide powder.

The machine's 5 1/4" floppies managed to be removed, amid a gritty crunching sound, and were found to be covered with the same rust powder. The floppies had also been heated to the point that they were distorted at the edges. All data was presumed lost, since the Techs didn't dare put the damaged floppies in another computer to check. Clearly, not every environment is "compatible" with a computer ...

Speaking of industrial usage computers, how about the tech working as UNIX Support for a major computer distribution company. One day his pager went off, with a simple message from their warehouse: "Program is down."

The tech arrived in the warehouse to find the bay in, um, bad shape. The printers were in pieces all over the floor, and the destroyed table scattered over a dozen feet. The Wyse terminal was hanging from one blade of a forklift parked nearby. The warehouse manager expected the Tech to simply fix the bay, that had clearly been "demolished" by a runaway forklift.

Another computer Tech got a new job with a regional railroad, with the task of upgrading all their 486 computers to newer machines. One of the last machines he upgraded was in the car shop, where they repaired all the rail cars that were not locomotives. So the area had lots of airborne particles, from soot to metal shavings, which still crept into the side office where the 486 sat on the floor. Maintenance had cleaned the office nightly, mopping and occasionally applying floor polish around this computer.

When the Tech arrived, he discovered that he couldn't even budge the 486. A quick inspection confirmed that five years of rust and floor polish had sealed it to the floor. The Tech got approval from his boss to write-off the computer as field destroyed. But, he still had to remove it from the office.

After a couple dozen whacks from a sledgehammer, the unit was free from the floor. Curiosity drove the Tech to spend another half hour breaking into the written-off unit. The entire bottom of the case had rusted away, with an inch-deep accumulation of dust and dirt that had never been cleaned out.

Incompatible with Sea-Level

A Support Tech in Chile got a call from a mining company in the Andes Mountains, that their workstation monitor screen was cracked. Quickly checking the monitor's manuals, it dawned on the Tech that the monitor's maximum operating altitude above sea level, was lower than where that cracked monitor now sat!

Fearful that the monitor could blow up in someone's face, the Tech rushed out with a replacement monitor. When he got there, he wiped off the dirty screen, and couldn't find any crack. So it wasn't cracked after all, just dirty.

And then there were some test flights of F-16 aircraft in Israel. The F-16s were doing low height rounds. But, every time they approached the Dead Sea, the whole navigation system suddenly reset itself. Although the ground tests had been perfect, every time the plane went airborne, it rebooted.

The pilots were not happy. Flying on the border of hostile territory, with enemy ground-to-air missiles aimed at anything that moved, was not inspiring much confidence in an aircraft with a constantly crashing navcom. Finally someone realized that the Dead Sea is 400 meters below sea level. Thus, every time the F-16 reached sea level, the navcom would divide by zero, crash and reboot.

The Coup and the Software Lock

One software company will never forget the day there was the incoming call from a small Indonesian country with a big problem. A fairly calm government official, amid background noise of gunfire, quickly explained that there was a coup attempt in progress. The government's national armory of weapons had a combination lock, known only to the Chief of the Capitol Guard and the Chief Armorer. Unfortunately, both had just been killed in the coup.

The official nervously explained that the combination to the lock was stored in a Mac file that was encrypted with that software company's product. Was there any kind of "back door" to the application, so that they could get into the locked armory and defend their country from the insurgents?

The Tech put the official on hold, and initiated a mad scramble that quickly involved the entire company. Did anyone know if there were any "back doors" to that particular security software? The sad conclusion was that no such "back door" existed. The Tech informed the official that their only option was to just try and physically destroy the combination lock. The polite official thanked the Tech, and hung up.

News reports later on TV mentioned that the government had fallen to the insurgents that night. One reporter even mentioned that the casualties seemed heaviest in the capitol, where there seemed to be little return fire from the under-siege government.

These are all "extreme computing disasters" that will probably never happen to the vast majority of us. But just to be safe, keep a fire extinguisher handy. While countries with coded weaponry lockers may want to check out Password Recovery software. And, please, dial 911 before Tech Support if your computer has exploded and/or is on fire!

(Many of these funny anecdotes appear on multiple computer joke sites. But special thanks to Rinkworks.com and Jokecenter.com)

Marilyn K. Martin is a freelance writer of nonfiction and fiction living in East Texas. She is the author of several published mini-articles and is currently writing a Young Adult Science Fiction series, Chronicles of Mathias, Volume One and Two are available on Amazon.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

“Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.”
by ComputorEdge Staff

"Nagging Privacy Matters," "Streaming Netflix to TV," "E-Poetry Blast from the Past," "Apple vs Microsoft"

Nagging Privacy Matters

[Regarding Jack Dunning's May 6 article, "Leaving Cyber Crumbs on the Internet":]

Your article is very informative. Many thanks for clarifying some privacy matters that often nag at the back of the computer user's mind.

-Cicero, Colorado Springs, CO

Streaming Netflix to TV

[Regarding the May 6 Digital Dave column:]

If your computer is near your TV (say, within 20 ft.) and you have a video card with two outputs, this is easy to do. I run a cable from the digital output to my monitor and the other (VGA output) to the TV with a VGA cable. If you have an HDMI output, then, I guess that would work great too, although VGA cables are cheap and the picture on the TV is great. You have to select the RGB input on your TV for VGA. Also, a cordless mouse is nice to run the Media Player controls (pause and volume, etc.) on the TV screen from your sofa/coffee table.

-Don DiMarco, San Diego

E-Poetry Blast from the Past

[Regarding the October 27, 2006 Mac Madness column:]

I like the poem very very much. Has humor and facts.

-

Apple vs Microsoft

[Regarding the May 6 Wally Wangs Apple Farm column:]

I would like to comment on your analysis of why WinPC sales are declining while Apple sales are increasing. Maybe you have always had a job and the resources to buy luxury computers. I consider Apple computers to be luxury computers because they are frequently more expensive when comparing equivalent specifications (yes, I am a techno geek, but I would buy an iPad today if I could afford one) and they have a larger profit margin. I have not done the research, but I would theorize that the less affluent person would have to purchase on price and would be harder hit in a recession, so do you think the sales trends may be more of a reflection of who is hit hardest in a recession? It would be interesting to see if the same trend exists for luxury cars vs economy cars. How do Cadillac sales trends compare to Chevrolet or Lincoln to Ford or Lexus to Toyota?

-Marcus, Alabama

Deja vu all over again...and again...and again...

I think that I've read this article before. Lately, with the exception of the good pieces toward the end of Wally's column, this column seems to be the same every week. Why everyone was wrong about the iPad. Why Apple is going to kill Microsoft. It's not that anything that Wally says is untrue, it's the fact that he says it every week. It seem like he's been doing this ever since the iPad was released.

I know that I could stop reading, but he really has some good tips and software recommendations buried toward the end of his column. Now I usually just scroll through the usual rants directly to where the good stuff is at the bottom. I'm happy that Apple is successful, I'm an Apple and PC user, and own an iPad, but I don't need to be hammered with it each week. Part of the problem is it becomes boring.

I wish Wally would go back to the old days when he talked on a variety of Apple topics. Pointing out new software and apps while giving tips is something to look forward to. His current themes are not.

-Richard, Oceanside, CA

Regarding Car Trends and Deja Vu:

Here's a link listing sales trends of various car makers in April 2010, which was still part of the recession. Surprisingly, Jaguar (a luxury brand) saw sales decline during the same period where most other brands saw sales increase. Of course, cars are different than computers, but when Porsche and Jaguar sales dip while Chevrolet, Chrysler and Kia sales rise, it could mean that not all luxury items always sell better in a recession than lower-cost rivals.

As far as deja vu goes, I apologize if it appears to be the same information over and over again. It's mostly to provide ample evidence to some people that life is changing and they can either go along with the flow or actively resist it until they suffer as a result. Perhaps it may be best not to provide evidence of change to these people and let them crash face-first into a brick wall of their own choosing since they seem determined to do that anyway.

-Wally Wang

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