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The Microsoft Band Smartwatch and a Windows Update

Microsoft Jumps into the Smartwatch Fray, Plus, the Latest on Windows

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Digital Dave

by Digital Dave

Digital Dave answers your tech questions.

Too Many Chrome Processes Continued—Maybe It's a Virus!

Microsoft Band Smartwatch and a Windows Update

by Jack Dunning

Is the Microsoft Band Smartwatch a Game Changer? Plus, Better Hurry If You Want Windows 7!

Some say that the Microsoft Band smartwatch is technically superior to every other fitness watch on the market. Plus, the end of Windows 7 consumer computer sales is in sight while Windows 8.1 makes surprising headway.

A Free Speed Reading App and Eliminating Double Words

by Jack Dunning

Who Doesn't Want to Read Faster? Plus, How to Use AutoHotkey RegEx to Eliminate Duplicate Words

Who knew you could build a quick and dirty speed reading machine with AutoHotkey? Like the Vulcan Mind Meld, it is quick, effective and easy for anyone to use. For the more stout of heart, dig deeper into AutoHotkey RegEx with an expression that will find and remove double words in any text, anywhere.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

by Wally Wang

The Intel Processor Debate

The Intel Processor Debate; The Coming Wearable Computing Market with Microsoft Band; The Problem of Commodity Products; The Future of Streaming Music; More Reasons to Use Mobile Technology; Free Books; Closing Apps on your iPhone.

Worldwide News & Product Reviews

by Charles Carr, News and Reviews Editor

The latest in tech news and hot product reviews.

Ransomware Goes Mainstream; Developer: Kickstarter is Dying; Cosyspeed Camslinger 105 and 160 Camera Bags; LG G Watch W100.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

by ComputorEdge Staff

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

"Dictionary App," "Windows 10 is Here," "Saving a JPG as a PDF, Why?"

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Digital Dave

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

Too Many Chrome Processes Continued—Maybe It's a Virus!

Too Many Chrome Processes Continued--Maybe It's a Virus!

Dear Digital Dave,

Regarding the question from Ron in San Diego, I had a similar issue recently, may not be exactly the same, but sounds similar. I do not have Chrome on my Win7-Pro PC. There was a noticeable decrease in CPU performance. When the Task Manager was referenced, there were several "Chrome" processes running, coming and going, chewing up considerable CPU time.

I used Malwarebytes to run a scan and it located several "Trojans" and miscellaneous other malware. The "Trojans" it found had the same names as the processes that were running, usually named random letters. After cleaning, the CPU performance was restored and the "Chrome" processes were gone. I regularly run CCleaner, Spybot, and MS Security Essentials. I do not run Malware Bytes regularly, but in this case, it was the only one that located and corrected the issues. Good Luck.

Bill Gorsuch

Broomfield, CO

Dear Bill,

I'm glad that you reminded me that almost any problem may be related to malware. I usually put a tag on the end of my advice for these types of problems that the issue might be caused by a virus. However, I rarely talk about the steps for eliminating this type of infection.

While I often stress the importance of practicing safe computing, no matter how carefully you scrutinize e-mail and avoid suspect download links, there are times when things slip through. In my case it is usually an annoying browser toolbar when I'm installing test software.

I find that going through the usual steps of uninstalling the browser hijacker through Programs and Features, then removing it from each infected browser usually does the job. But even then there may be bits and pieces left behind in the Windows Registry and temporary folders. These remnants may be picked up by a CCleaner scan, but there is no software that catches everything. That's why, as you have done, it is a good idea to occasionally run other anti-malware cleanup programs—even if you don't think you have a problem.

The free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 2.0 is rated by PC Magazine as the best at cleaning up an infected system. There are many programs which are acceptable for protecting an already clean computer, but many fall short when cleaning up a mess. It's a good idea to get this free clean up tool, even if you don't use the associated paid protection system. If you suspect a virus, then you should definitely use Malwarebytes as part of your clean up procedure. Even if you are having no problems, I would occasionally run a scan.

As a test, I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes on one of my computers. Lately, I have not seen any problems on this computer, but there were times in the past when I needed to remove unwanted toolbars from browsers.

The download process is fairly straightforward, but it's recommended that you disable your antivirus software during the installation process. This can usually be done by clicking on the appropriate icon in the System Tray and opening the protection program.

The reason for disabling your current protection is Malwarebytes may trigger your real-time protection during installation. Don't worry, you will re-enable your software after the work is done. Due to the design of Malwarebytes, once it is installed you will be able to run a scan without closing all programs or disabling your security. (If you're using Microsoft Security Essential the select Real-time protection in the Settings tab. Uncheck "Turn on real-time protection" and click Save changes. The top status bar and icon in the System Tray will turn red. The status bar will say "PC status: At risk." This is normal. Later, after running the Malwarebytes scan, you will use the same steps to re-enable the protection.)

To prevent possible conflicts, be sure to close all other programs before you start installation. After downloading, double-click to load the installation program.

As with any installation process, watch each step carefully and read each window as the steps continue. There is one point where the installation process offers a free trial of the premium version which includes real-time protection. If you want to continue with your current antivirus software then be sure to uncheck the free trial. Otherwise, Malwarebytes will likely replace your current defense system.

Once installed, launch Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. You should see a window similar to Figure 1. Click the Scan Now button.

Figure 1. Once Malwarebytes is installed and launched, it's just a matter of clicking the Scan Now button.

The program immediately starts the scan looking for problems and remnants of malware. As Malwarebyte works through the scan, Detected Objects are highlighted in red (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Detected Objects are highlighted in red.

To see the problems, click Review Detected Items. As can be seen in Figure 3, my Windows Registry contained a number of entries which are pieces leftover from previously installed annoying toolbars.

Figure 3. Most of the Detected Objects were remnants of browser toolbars.

One of the reasons that Malwarebytes is more effective at finding problems than many other tools is that it was originally designed as a removal tool—not real-time protection. It removes the drudgery of cleaning out the Registry and temporary directories. The company has forums for their users who report newly detected viruses and malware (and false positives). Then they immediately start work on a fix—often producing a solution within an hour. Plus, their sets of removal tools often apply to entire families of malware. The software may catch an entirely new infection based upon its similarity with previous viruses.

Once the scan is completed, you will be given the option to quarantine any or all of the Detected Objects. It's worthwhile to review all of the items since it is possible that an object that's not a threat will be included. I noted that there were a couple of installation programs picked up which I knew to be safe and excluded them from the quarantine.

Quarantine is a safe way to deal with problems without running the risk of deleting something important. Quarantine merely isolates the object so that it is no longer a threat, If you want to permanently remove the objects from the drive, then go to the History tab and select delete—either individually or Delete All.

While there are some features held back in the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, such as scheduled scanning, the database is complete and should do one of the best jobs of finding infections. You will need to start each scan manually, but you don't need to do it every day. I would definitely make this one of the regular steps taken for virus removal regardless of which real-time antivirus protection is use.

Digital Dave

Microsoft Band Smartwatch and a Windows Update

“Is the Microsoft Band Smartwatch a Game Changer? Plus, Better Hurry If You Want Windows 7!”
by Jack Dunning

Some say that the Microsoft Band smartwatch is technically superior to every other fitness watch on the market. Plus, the end of Windows 7 consumer computer sales is in sight while Windows 8.1 makes surprising headway.

Microsoft Surprises with a Smartwatch

I'm not particularly excited about smartwatches. But then I'm not out jogging every day or using every exercise machine at the gym. I do play racquetball which is good exercise without being mindless. But that's just me. There are plenty of people who do regularly exercise and would most likely enjoy a wrist device which can tell them their pulse and how far they ran. Health and fitness is the category of smartwatch which seems most likely to catch on.

Microsoft has just announced their entry into the smartwatch market, the Microsoft Band (see Figure 3), and it is also mostly about health. However, there are a few features of the Band that some say could make it a game changer. Rather than announcing what's to come, this time the wrist device is immediately available for $199.

Figure 3. The Microsoft Band is a functional watch which works with virtually any smartphone.

The Microsoft Band's most significant feature is compatibility with almost any smartphone (Android 4.3 and 4.4, iOS 7.1 and later, and Windows Phone 8.1). Unlike many tethered smartwatches from other companies (Samsung connects to Samsung, Apple connects to Apple, etc.), you don't need to own a Microsoft phone to hook up to the Band. (That's a good thing, because otherwise the potential market would be extremely small.)

The watch has an optical heart rate sensor which is supposed to be more accurate than most, but tests have shown that getting the pulse from the wrist is problematic. Since it is just out, results for the Band are unknown.

The sensors (shown in Figure 3) are located on the opposite side of the wristband clasp, which means the display is viewed on the inside of the wrist by turning the palm up. Some people feel this makes the Band feel a little bulky and awkward.

The fact that the Band includes onboard GPS is significant. Other smartwatches are only beginning to introduce built-in GPS. Most use the GPS from a tethered smartphone. (Who wants to take a clunky smartphone on a jog only to be interrupted by annoying phone calls?) This feature breaks that required smartphone link for tracking a jog around the park since the active GPS can accurately measure movement. It's much more precise than the systems dependent upon counting steps and measuring the accompanying bouncing around. (Although, the GPS will also track that stop over at the local 7-11 for a bag of chips and a soda.) It unclear how using the GPS will impact the claimed 48 hours of battery life.

If you have any doubt about the purpose of Microsoft Band, that can be laid to rest by the fact that it must be activated through a Cloud service called Microsoft Health. While you can get e-mail, text messages, and other phone notifications through the watch, the health sensors are integral to its use. It even does UV monitoring (to measure exposure to sunlight) and sleep tracking (to record your dreams? no).

According to Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDNet "On the inside, the Microsoft Band is far superior to any other fitness band on the market." (See Figure 4.) While there is a lot he likes, there is still plenty wrong with the Band: too big and too bulky; the screen scratches easily; not waterproof; complex to set up; and the price ($199).

Figure 4. The Microsoft Band (exploded view).

Oh, and the Microsoft Band also tells the time.

Microsoft Windows Update

Soon it will be difficult to find a Windows 7 computer on the retail shelves—at least the consumer version. As of October 31 Microsoft has stopped the sales of Windows 7 for consumer computers with a preinstalled operating system. In spite of the fact that many people prefer to move to Windows 7 rather than take a chance with Windows 8, Microsoft has decided it's time to move on. The Windows 7 computers will continue to be available until manufacturers deplete their inventory of OEM licenses. If you really want Windows 7, then the Professional version will be available until further notice—at least one year from the date of any announcement to discontinue the sale of Windows 7 Professional (see the chart in Figure 1 from Microsoft).

Figure 1. Microsoft has ended the sale of preinstalled consumer versions of Windows 7 and retail sales of Windows 8 as of October 31.

If you were thinking of sticking with Windows 8 rather than buying a Windows 8.1 computer, then that option is quickly disappearing. I feel that's a good thing, because having the two versions only causes confusion and, for the most part, Windows 8.1 is the preferable version.

This is all part of clearing the way for the introduction of Windows 10 sometime in 2015. There is no Windows 9 because Microsoft is trying to put as much distance as possible between Windows 8 and the next release of the much maligned operating system. From my perspective, Windows 8.1 is good enough (fast and runs all my Windows 7 apps), but I never use the Modern interface. I wouldn't mind if there were an option in Windows 10 to completely turn off the tablet-like interface on PCs—which there may be.

People Are Buying Windows 8.1 Computers

This may even be a surprise to Microsoft, but Windows 8.1 is suddenly getting traction in the PC market (see Figure 2 from Net Market Share). The month of October shows a remarkable jump of 61% in overall desktop usage of Windows 8.1 (the red line) while Windows XP (the green line) shows a correlating drop. (Part of the drop in Windows XP is due to a change in how Net Market Share measures computers in China.) It's important to remember that these are not sales number, but are based upon computer operating systems actually being used on the Internet worldwide—a base of approximately 140 million unique visitors in one month. My guess is that Microsoft and PC manufacturers had a pretty good October.

Figure 2. It appears that the computer market is starting to show a remarkable acceptance of Windows 8.1—at least in the short term.

If you add Window 8 users (the yellow line) to Windows 8.1 users, it's easy to see that overall Windows 8 usage will surpass Windows XP sometime in November. That's if the trend continues. This could mean that Windows 8.1 has become acceptable as an alternative to Windows XP. Windows 7 is pretty steady and probably won't give up much ground before the release of Windows 10.

Also of note is the Other category of desktop computers (the orange line). It appears to have increased noticeably. It doesn't look like it's the much awaited breakout of Linux, and, while there has been strong growth in Chromebook sales, it pales in significance when compared with Windows. The data may be suspect—in which case the Windows 8.1 growth may also be called into question. I guess we'll see how it looks next month.

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. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Recently released is Jack's FREE AutoHotkey book, AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought to Do with Window, available exclusively at ComputorEdge E-Books in the EPUB for e-readers and tablets, MOBI for Kindle, and PDF for printing formats.

ComputorEdge E-books offering is his AutoHotkey Applications, an idea-generating intermediate level e-book about using the AutoHotkey Graphical User Interface (GUI) command to write practical pop-up apps for your Windows computer. (It's not as hard as it sounds.)

Hidden Windows Tools for Protecting, Problem Solving and Troubleshooting Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Computers.

Jack's A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey.

Our second compilation of stupid ComputorEdge cartoons from 2011 and 2012 is now available at Amazon! That Does Not Compute, Too! ComputorEdge Cartoons, Volume II: "Do You Like Windows 8 or Would You Prefer an Apple?"

Special Free Offer at ComputorEdge E-Books! Jack's Favorite Free Windows Programs: What They Are, What They Do, and How to Get Started!.

Misunderstanding Windows 8: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Windows 8 (Seventh Edition)!

Windows 7 Secrets Four-in-One E-Book Bundle,

Getting Started with Windows 7: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Using Windows 7,

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? Why You Should or Why You Should Not Upgrade to Windows 7,

and That Does Not Compute!, brilliantly drawn cartoons by Jim Whiting for really stupid gags by Jack about computers and the people who use them.

A Free Speed Reading App and Eliminating Double Words

“Who Doesn't Want to Read Faster? Plus, How to Use AutoHotkey RegEx to Eliminate Duplicate Words”
by Jack Dunning

Who knew you could build a quick and dirty speed reading machine with AutoHotkey? Like the Vulcan Mind Meld, it is quick, effective and easy for anyone to use. For the more stout of heart, dig deeper into AutoHotkey RegEx with an expression that will find and remove double words in any text, anywhere.

Have you ever wanted to tryout a speed reading program for improve your reading skills, but didn't want to spend big bucks to do it? Now you can do it with a free AutoHotkey script. This is a quick and dirty app called SpeedReader modeled after many of the commercial speed reading programs.

The technique used is called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP). This has become popular in digital speed reading systems. RSVP flashes one word at a time forcing your brain to absorb the concept quickly. The idea is to stop readers from saying the words in their head which is a major cause of slow reading. The other aspect of RSVP is each word (or words if you expand beyond one word at a time, see Figure 1) appears in the same spot on the screen which eliminates the need for moving the eyes. This is considered just one of the techniques for improving reading speed. I can't attest to how well it works, but, hey, it can't hurt.

A good test is copy text from almost any source and paste it into the text window. Hit the start button and sit back while you watch the words fly by. If it's too fast, hit ESC and set it to a slower speed. The goal is to slowly increase the speed until you're reading at an incredible rate. Theoretically, this exercise (15 minutes a day) will increase your reading speed even when enjoying a book. I have no idea how effective it is, but this AutoHotkey script will certainly flash the words before your eyes at incredible speeds.

Figure 1. The SpeedReader AutoHotkey script flashes text in the window in the same spot as it scans through the copied sample to stimulate the reading process.

I tried it out on a couple of blocks of text. At first it was a little disconcerting, but eventually I relaxed and let the words pop into my head. I felt like I was Data from Star Trek effortlessly absorbing volumes of information from a computer. Then I increased the speed until I didn't have a clue what I was reading. If I truly want to find out if this technique works, I need to spend a little more time with it.

Since it was pertinent, I copied the text from "The Truth About Speed Reading" into SpeedReader and ran it at 500 words per minute. I was surprised at how much I understood, but I'm not sure how much I remember. I certainly didn't have time to move my lips. (If you're afraid of psychosclerosis—hardening of the attitude—then this may be a good way to effortlessly exercise your mind.)

How SpeedReader Works

The image in Figure 1 is a simulation of how the SpeedReader script works. Paste text copied from another source (document, Web page, etc.) into the reading window. Set the number of words in a group (1, 2, or 3), the number of words to jump and the speed in words per minute. Click the Read> button to start.

Use the left and right arrows to jump back or forward that number of words while running. The up and down arrows, as well as the slider control, change the reading speed. Hit the spacebar to pause. Spacebar again to resume. ESC to stop and ESC again to exit the program.

I made some minor changes to the script to isolate the spacebar control to the app and resized the window for my own purposes, but other than that, the code is pretty much identical to the original.

If you want to give it a try then I've posted the script SpeedReader.ahk at the ComputorEdge AutoHotkey download site. This file contains the code in text and requires the installation of the free AutoHotkey program—if you don't already use AutoHotkey. (See "Installing AutoHotkey and Writing Your First Script for more information on how to get started.) Once you have the code file, then you can compile it into an EXE file which you can run on any Windows computer. It will blow your mind!

Finding Double Words with RegEx in AutoHotkey

I haven't talked much about Regular Expressions (RegEx) in AutoHotkey for the past couple of weeks. They often are neglected in programming because it takes a little time to understand them. (See "Easy Regular Expressions (RegEx) in AutoHotkey" for a simplified introduction to AutoHotkey Regular Expressions.) However, there is power in RegEx which, when used properly, can easily replace many lines of standard code. The problem is writing the correct expression.

The task this week is to write a RegEx expression which will locate duplicate words in a highlighted section of text. I started with a sample taken from another Web page and placed it in the RegEx Tester discussed in an earlier column (Figure 2). I used the RegExReplace tab of the tester so that I could immediately see the results of any changes I made to the expression.

Figure 2. The RegEx Tester is used to evaluate an expression for eliminating duplicate words in selected text.

I entered sample text into the top edit field, "Text to be searched", the copied expression, the "Replacement Text" which is a backreference ($1) to the first expression match (inside the parentheses), and the resulting text appears in the bottom window. None of the expressions I found on the Web worked as well as the RegEx shown:

i)\b([\w\S]+)\s+\1\b

which evolved as I tested various possibilities. There are a number of learning points in this RegEx worth investigating.

While the sample text doesn't make any sense, its purpose of checking for various types of double words uncovered a number of problems in the original expressions. By starting at the beginning of the RegEx and examining each piece, techniques not previously discussed are highlighted in a practical way.

RegEx Options

There are a series of options which can be used to modify an entire AutoHotkey RegEx by placing them at the beginning of the expression followed by a close parentheses (see the AutoHotkey RegEx Quick Reference page). The code i) located at the beginning of our expression tells RegEx to ignore differences in case. The capital letter which appears at the beginning of a sentence previously would not match the same lowercase letter at the beginning of the next word—as it is in the sample text (The the), but adding the i) option completed the match. The original expression did not account for double words at the beginning of a sentence. By making the entire expression case insensitive the problem is eliminated.

Matching Words Only

It was found in some of the expressions that when the first word ended with the same letter which started the second word a match was found. This produced results in the test such as "thoughthough" and "don'take" rather than recognizing that there was no match. The code \b is similar to the anchors ^ and $ in that it doesn't take up any characters. It is used as a word boundary.

For a match to occur the boundary (either beginning or end) must not be a letter (or digit) character, but can be any punctuation or space. This isolates the match as a word and prevents matching within words. The example given online is "\bcat\b doesn't match catfish, but it matches cat regardless of what punctuation and whitespace surrounds it." In our case, using the boundary marks \b prevents matching between ending and beginning letters in the two words. The first \b eliminates the problem noted above. The last \b is needed to prevent matches such as "do doh" which would yield "doh" as the replacement.

Matching Contractions

Another problem with some of the expressions I found online for identifying duplicate words was that they missed contractions. For example, "you're you're" would be missed because the apostrophe was assumed to be the start of a new word with "re" and the following "you" not matching. This was fixed by adding a class of characters (a range using the square brackets []) which includes any letters or digits \w or any non-space \S in the form [\w\S]+. This expression tells RegEx to match anything that is either a character (upper or lowercase), digit (0-9), or anything which is not a space. The \S with a capital S means "not a space", while \s with a lowercase s means any space. The plus sign + tells RegEx to continue matching characters until it encounters a space (which would includes end of line characters such as `r for carriage return and `n for newline or linefeed). Now the combination "you're you're" will match eliminating one of the words.

Eliminating Extra Spaces

Some of the samples only used one space \s as a separator between the words. If extra spaces are inadvertently inserted between the duplicate words, then there will be no match. By adding the repeat plus + sign to the \s (\s+), the matching continues as long as spaces are encountered. Any other intervening character stops the matching process. This expression will now find duplicate words with any number of intervening spaces and ignore them in the final result.

Using a Backreference to Make the Match

One of the most power features in RegEx is the ability to match previously matched sub-expressions. This are called a backreference and is designated by enclosing the desired portion of the expression inside a set of parentheses ()—in this case ([\w\S]+) which matches the first word. By adding \1 near the end of the expression, RegEx is told to use the results of the first backreference for the next match. (This use of the backreference \1 is not found in the AutoHotkey RegEx Quick Reference Guide, but is in many other more extensive Regular Expression references.) Similar to using $1 for a replacement backreference, the \1 uses the match found in the first set of parentheses. Other backreferences would be \2 for the second, \3 for the third, through \9 for the ninth. (In most language a RegEx backreference can go up to \99 (99 sets of parentheses), although it is difficult for me to see a situation where one would need so many. Since I haven't tested it, I can only assume that RegEx in AutoHotkey has the same 99 backreference limitation. For backreference replacements above $9 in RegExReplace() use curly brackets, i.e. ${10}, ${10}, etc.)

By using the \1 all double words are matched. If you wanted to match triple words, the add \s+\1 to the expression like so:

i)\b([\w\S]+)\s+\1\s+\1\b

If you want to match repeated two word combinations such as "you are you are", then add a second word expression and a second backreference \2:

i)\b([\w\S]+)\s+([\w\S]+)\s+\1\s+\2\b

which would yield the result "you are" if the replacement expression "$1 $2" is used.

Writing a RegEx to Mark Double Words

While this expression for finding double words seems to work pretty well, you may not want to use if for direct replacement in a long section of text. There may be times when either you don't want a double word removed ("What is it that you do do?") or there may be an inappropriate match I haven't seen yet. It might be better to mark the double matches for review using a built in search tool. This can be done by adding special symbols to the text at the double word location while returning the entire expression to the text using $0 which replaces the match with the entire original match (including the backreference):

NewValue := RegExReplace(Haystack, "i)\b([\w\S]+)\s+\1\b", "$0+++")

This example of the AutoHotkey RegExReplace() function adds triple plus signs (+++) at each location where a double word is found. The matches can be reviewed by finding "+++" using the built-in search feature found in virtually all editors and browsers.

*                    *                    *

Free! AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought To Do With Windows! This e-book includes both those tips and the reference material (Table of Contents and indexes) from the other three AutoHotkey books. Pick up a copy free and share it with your friends.

*                    *                    *

PayPal Is Now Accepted at ComputorEdge E-Books!

The second edition with more chapters and an index to the AutoHotkey commands found in the book is available in e-book format from Amazon (and other formats—EPUB and PDF— at the ComputorEdgeBooks Web site linked below). Jack's A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (preferred, EPUB format for iPad, Android, and computers; MOBI for Amazon Kindle; and PDF for printing) offers a gentle approach to learning AutoHotkey. (Also available from Amazon for the Kindle and Kindle software on other devices.)

Building Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, AutoHotkey is the most powerful, flexible, free Windows utility software available. Anyone can instantly add more of the functions that they want in all of their Windows programs, whether installed on their computer or while working on the Web. AutoHotkey has a universality not found in any other Windows utility—free or paid.

Based upon the series of articles in ComputorEdge, Jack takes you through his learning experience as he explores writing simple AutoHotkey scripts for adding repetitive text in any program or on the Web, running programs with special hotkeys or gadgets, manipulating the size and screen location of windows, making any window always-on-top, copying and moving files, and much more. Each chapter builds on the previous chapters.

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey click here!

*                    *                    *

Jack's second AutoHotkey book, Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey (preferred, EPUB format for iPad, Android, and computers; MOBI for Amazon Kindle; and PDF for printing) is comprised of updated, reorganized and indexed columns from ComputorEdge is now available. Since the columns were not all written in a linear fashion, the book has been reorganized and broken up into parts by topic. The book is not for the complete beginner since it builds on the information in A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey. However, if a person is reasonably computer literate, they could go directly to this book for ideas and techniques without the first book. (Also available from Amazon for the Kindle and Kindle software on other devices.)

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of Digging Deeper into AutoHotkey click here!

*                    *                    *

Jack's third AutoHotkey book AutoHotkey Applications (preferred, EPUB format for iPad, Android, and computers; MOBI for Amazon Kindle; and PDF for printing) is an intermediate level book of ideas and applications based primarily on the AutoHotkey GUI command. The book emphasizes practical applications. The book is not for the complete beginner since it builds on the information in the other two books. However, if a person is reasonably computer literate, they could go directly to this book for ideas and techniques without the other books. There is an extensive index to the ideas and techniques covered in the back of the book. (Also available from Amazon for the Kindle and Kindle software on other devices.)

For an EPUB (iPad, NOOK, etc.) version of AutoHotkey Applications click here!

For a PDF version for printing on letter size paper for inclusion in a standard notebook of AutoHotkey Applications click here!

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. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Recently released is Jack's FREE AutoHotkey book, AutoHotkey Tricks You Ought to Do with Window, available exclusively at ComputorEdge E-Books in the EPUB for e-readers and tablets, MOBI for Kindle, and PDF for printing formats.

ComputorEdge E-books offering is his AutoHotkey Applications, an idea-generating intermediate level e-book about using the AutoHotkey Graphical User Interface (GUI) command to write practical pop-up apps for your Windows computer. (It's not as hard as it sounds.)

Hidden Windows Tools for Protecting, Problem Solving and Troubleshooting Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Computers.

Jack's A Beginner's Guide to AutoHotkey, Absolutely the Best Free Windows Utility Software Ever!: Create Power Tools for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Digging Deeper Into AutoHotkey.

Our second compilation of stupid ComputorEdge cartoons from 2011 and 2012 is now available at Amazon! That Does Not Compute, Too! ComputorEdge Cartoons, Volume II: "Do You Like Windows 8 or Would You Prefer an Apple?"

Special Free Offer at ComputorEdge E-Books! Jack's Favorite Free Windows Programs: What They Are, What They Do, and How to Get Started!.

Misunderstanding Windows 8: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Windows 8 (Seventh Edition)!

Windows 7 Secrets Four-in-One E-Book Bundle,

Getting Started with Windows 7: An Introduction, Orientation, and How-to for Using Windows 7,

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? Why You Should or Why You Should Not Upgrade to Windows 7,

and That Does Not Compute!, brilliantly drawn cartoons by Jim Whiting for really stupid gags by Jack about computers and the people who use them.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

“The Intel Processor Debate”
by Wally Wang

The Intel Processor Debate; The Coming Wearable Computing Market with Microsoft Band; The Problem of Commodity Products; The Future of Streaming Music; More Reasons to Use Mobile Technology; Free Books; Closing Apps on your iPhone.

Most computers today use Intel's Haswell processors. There's nothing wrong with Haswell processors, but Intel delayed the successor to Haswell called Broadwell. Instead of arriving before the Christmas shopping season, Broadwell processors will arrive early 2015.

That means if you really want a new computer with the latest technology, you should wait for Broadwell processors. Of course your buying decision gets muddled because the successor to Broadwell is nearly out as well, called Skylake.

Skylake processors will be out in the second half of 2015. If you buy a Broadwell processor computer early next year, the next batch of Skylake processors will immediately arrive several months afterwards.

You can keep waiting and newer technology will always be on the horizon. Just time your next computer purchase to take advantage of the latest processors, then keep your computer as long as it keeps working for you.

With each jump in processor families, computers will get more energy efficient (which translates into longer battery life for laptops) and more powerful. Since most people don't need the absolute latest in technology, just wait for the new batch of processors to arrive and then pick up the previous generation computers for a steep discount.

Since Apple just updated the Mac mini, expect the Mac mini to remain unchanged throughout 2015. The iMac will likely take advantage of the Broadwell processors while the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro laptops will likely hold out for the Skylake processors for the greater power savings. The Mac Pro is also getting older so expect an update to that model in 2015 as well.

Of course, if you need a Macintosh now, get one. The benefits you'll get today will be far greater than forever waiting for the latest technology to arrive. The only reason to regret getting a computer now is if you buy a computer with a confusing operating system that's designed to frustrate you rather than simplify your life.

The Coming Wearable Computing Market with Microsoft Band

To keep up in the wearable computing market, Microsoft recently released their Microsoft Band for $199. Like most wearable computers, the Microsoft Band focuses on tracking health data such as how far you've walked or how many calories you've burned up. You can also do text messaging, send and receive e-mails, and view appointments while linking the Microsoft Band to a Windows Phone, Android, or iPhone.

Figure 1. Microsoft Band is a wearable computer for tracking fitness data.

What's lacking are technical details such as the operating system used in the Microsoft Band. Chances are good it's not Windows 8 crammed into the small form factor of the Microsoft Band, but it may be a variant of Microsoft's Windows 10. At this point, Windows 10 seems to be more of a name than a single operating system capable of running seamlessly on multiple devices without modification.

Figure 2. Windows 10 seems to be a name to cover a broad range of different operating system versions.

Perhaps the most important question surrounding the Microsoft Band is how versatile it will be for developers to create apps. Microsoft has already promised a Microsoft Health application programming interface (API) for developers so it's a matter of time to see how quickly developers support Microsoft Band.

How will the Microsoft Band affect the Apple Watch? Until the Apple Watch arrives early next year, nobody will know, but it appears the Microsoft Band is more of a fitness tracker like the Nike Fuelband while the Apple Watch seems more like a versatile computing device. Most fitness bands range in price from $50 to $200 while the Apple Watch starts at $349.

With Microsoft's entry into the wearable computing market, there's no doubt that wearable computers will play a more prominent role in our lives. We just have to see whether people want specialized wearable computers or more expensive but potentially more versatile ones. Until then, expect the wearable computing market to continue growing as people find more productive uses for wearable computers that even the manufacturers may never have thought possible.

The Problem of Commodity Products

For decades, everyone praised Microsoft's decision to license its operating system to dominate the market. As long as MS-DOS and then Windows remained the best choices on the market, other manufacturers could profit by selling MS-DOS/Windows software, computers, and accessories.

The problem with licensing products like Windows to multiple manufacturers is that there's no particular reason to buy a product from one company over another other than price. During the Windows heyday in the 90's, people would commonly buy a Dell PC, upgrade to a Gateway PC, and switch to a Toshiba, Sony, or Hewlett-Packard PC a few years later. When you sell the exact same product as everyone else, your only competitive advantages are price and convenience.

Dell offered custom-made PCs by mail-order while Gateway offered some of the best prices. As long as the Windows PC market continued to grow, every PC manufacturer could see increasing sales.

The moment Windows was no longer the only operating system capable of letting people browse Web sites, send and receive e-mail, and run programs, the market for Windows PCs plummeted and continues dropping steadily every quarter. With a shrinking Windows market, PC manufacturers suddenly had to fight for a shrinking audience. This forced them to sell more PCs at lower prices and work harder to maintain the same level of profits from the year before.

Working harder to earn declining profits is an exercise in futility. This is why Sony gave up their PC business , Dell went private to focus more on services and less on selling PCs, and Gateway remains a shell of their former selves.

Just as the commodity business of selling Windows PC has imploded, so has the commodity business of selling Android smartphones imploded for Samsung. With so many manufacturers selling Android smartphones, why should anyone buy a Samsung Android phone?

Samsung's mobile phone division keeps seeing declining growth as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus gobble up the high-end market while competitors like Xiaomi and LG gobble up the low-end smartphone market. Under assault from both the high and low-end, Samsung's smartphones are getting squeezed out of the market.

Figure 3. Samsung's mobile phone growth keeps falling.

At one time, Samsung's greatest advantage was larger screens. With the iPhone 6, that advantage is gone, and with other manufacturers making larger screen smartphones too, there's no particular reason to go with Samsung any more.

Android's huge market share means nothing if you can't make a profit just as Windows' huge market share meant nothing to Sony trying to sell PCs to a shrinking market. Samsung may not abandon the smartphone market, but they'll likely never make the profits they used to make before they lost both the high and low-end of the smartphone market to their competitors.

As long as Samsung doesn't mind making far less money than they did before, they can still profit from the Android market. They'll just have to fight harder for less money, which is never much fun.

As a business, you never want to be just another commodity dealer. You don't want people coming to you just because you have low prices, but because you have better products and service, regardless of your prices. It's possible to price yourself out of the market by getting too greedy, but higher prices insures that you can afford to provide your customers with a higher level of quality.

Not everyone wants higher quality, so let those people go elsewhere since anyone who shops solely on price makes the least loyal and most troublesome customers for any business. The goal is to make money by working smarter, not working longer and harder for less and less money every year. Just ask Samsung how well their business model is doing by relying on Android, and be sure to ask them why they stopped paying royalties to Microsoft. Then ask Samsung how well their Tizen operating system plan is coming along to help them differentiate their products from rival Android manufacturers.

The Future of Streaming Music

Streaming audio is killing digital downloads. That's why Apple spent $3 billion dollars to acquire Beats Music, not just for their existing streaming music service, but for the creative minds behind Beats Music.

The man in charge of Beats' streaming efforts is Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. His job is to find a unique way to position streaming audio and make it a distinct experience. How? That's what everyone else wants to know as well.

"I am on the side of streaming music, and I think the right streaming service could solve everybody's problems," says Reznor. "Ownership is waning. Everybody is comfortable with the cloud—your documents, who knows where they are? They are there when you need them. That idea that I've got my records on the shelf doesn't feel as important even to me as it used to. I just think we haven't quite hit the right formula yet."

The most creative minds working on streaming audio at Beats Music aren't the engineers or corporate executives, but the recording artists themselves. Because recording artists often make the least amount of money from streaming audio, they have little incentive to support any streaming audio service. If Beats Music (run by recording artists) can figure out a formula to keep both recording artists and customers happy, that's the winning formula that could put iTunes back on top as the number one distributor of music once more.

More Reasons to Use Mobile Technology

If you're a guest at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, you can now use your iPhone or Android phone as your room key. By booking a reservation at a keyless hotel in Beijing, Cancun, Cupertino, Harlem, Doha, Hollywood, Hong Kong, New York City, or Singapore, you'll get a notification of your room number. This will allow you to bypass the front desk completely and go straight to your hotel room.

Figure 4. You can now use a smartphone as a hotel room key.

By 2014, Hilton hopes to have similar keyless systems in over 4,000 of their own hotels. If you don't have a smartphone (or if you chose a Windows Phone or Blackberry phone instead), you'll slowly be locked out of the latest innovations in the mobile computing market.

Between systems like Apple Pay and Google Wallet, and keyless entry into Hilton and Starwood Hotels, people without a smartphone will fall further behind the rest of the world just like people who refused to use a personal computer gradually fell behind the rest of the world.

Most likely a stubborn few will continue to resist the shift to mobile computing. Then they'll fall further behind when wearable computing becomes just as popular. With an Apple Watch, you'll be able to make payments and open hotel rooms with the swipe of your wrist while everyone else fumbles with finding their smartphone, key, or wallet.

For anyone who still resists mobile and wearable computing, you can hang out with the people who resisted the PC revolution and clung to mainframe and minicomputers. Then you can listen to the mainframe and minicomputer enthusiasts claim that PCs are nothing but toys and unable to do any serious work.

Free Books

To help promote the iBookstore, Apple is giving away several books absolutely free. Some of these iBooks are novels that display nothing but static text, but some are interactive that fully demonstrates the capabilities of an iBook.

Figure 5. Apple is giving away free iBooks.

You can read these free books through the iBooks app that runs on both the latest version of OS X and iOS. With free books, you can pick the books that interest you and see whether you like reading on the iBooks app or not. In any case, free books can give you more reading material so you can keep exercising your brain instead of letting it waste away watching trashing reality TV shows like "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" or "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."

*                    *                    *

If you're using an iPhone or iPad, you may not realize that you never really quit out of an app. Instead, the app stays in memory. Over time, you could wind up with dozens of apps that you may have opened once and never bothered to use again. If you notice your iOS device feeling sluggish, try exiting out of multiple apps.

Just press the Home button twice in rapid succession and thumbnail images of all your currently running apps will appear. Now swipe up on each thumbnail to completely close that app and free up just a little bit more memory for the rest of your apps to use.

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:

Microsoft Office 2013 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 and Gerald Fisher

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

The Secrets of the Wall Street Stock Traders

Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners

Republican Fairy Tales (Children's Stories the 1% Tell About the Rest of Us)

The Zen of Effortless Selling with Moe Abdou

The 15-Minute Movie Method

Erotophobia (A novel)

Math for the Zombie Apocalypse

How to Write a Great Script with Final Draft 9

How to Write a Great Script with Fade In

The Elements of a Great Script: Star Wars

The Elements of a Great Script: Die Hard

The Element of a Great Script: Back to the Future

The Elements of a Great Script: Rocky

The Elements of a Great Script: It's a Wonderful Life

In his spare time, Wally likes blogging about movies and writing screenplays at his site "The 15 Minute Movie Method," finding interesting news stories about cats at his site "Cat Daily News," giving advice to authors who want to self-publish e-books at his site "The Electronic Author," and providing the type of advice he wishes someone would have told him when he was much younger at his personal Web site. Wally can be reached at wally@computoredge.com or you can follow him on Twitter @wallacewang_com.

Worldwide News & Product Reviews

“The latest in tech news and hot product reviews.”
by Charles Carr, News and Reviews Editor

Ransomware Goes Mainstream; Developer: Kickstarter is Dying; Cosyspeed Camslinger 105 and 160 Camera Bags; LG G Watch W100.

Ransomware Goes Mainstream

Stu Sjouwerman, founder and CEO of the Web-based Security Awareness Training site KnowBe4.com, writes in this week:

While ransomware has continued to spread, many organizations have to deal with the repercussions and expense involved with having their networks frozen. Like the television show, a company can literally have its operations shut down within an hour by encrypting their information. And similar to the TV show but in real life, one KnowBe4 customer had their seven servers killed and 75 Gigs of data encrypted in just 55 minutes.

(Credit: DotFab Studio, dotfab.com)

"As one of network television's overall Top 25 shows this past week, covering ransomware is significant. It not only signifies the impact and broad invasion by ransomware, but takes a stab at showing just how easy and quick it is to shut down a network.", said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, a Tampa, FL-based Internet security awareness training company. "Should ransomware hit a key employee or perhaps a CEO or CFO, it can do immense damage."

As Cybersecurity Awareness month comes to an end, KnowBe4 warns users and network administrators alike that the cyber criminals don't stop. In fact, Sjouwerman predicts that the Russian cyber mafias will step up their activities in anticipation of increased holiday spending. The "new and improved" Version 2 of the world's most widespread ransomware CryptoWall, continues to encrypt files so that a ransom can be extracted if there are no backups or if the backup process fails, often a common occurrence.

Personal information is taken from data breaches like the Home depot, Target, and similar hacks. Cyber criminals then use this information and email addresses to spear-phish their targets, hoping to get more detailed financial information and passwords. From mid 2013 to mid 2014, Russian cybercrime brought in 2.5 billion dollars, as reported in a report from Group-IB.

Sjouwerman advises continued diligence by users and businesses alike. KnowBe4 advises:

1. Make regular backups, and have a backup off-site as well. TEST the restore function regularly to make sure backups actually work.

2. Patch browsers as soon as possible, and keep the amount of plug-ins as low as possible as this will diminish the attack surface.

3. Step all users through effective training on security such as Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training to prevent malware infections to start with.

Sjouwerman says, "Think before you click. Don't open anything from someone unless you are expecting it. Hover over an e-mail address to make sure its from a valid domain, one you know and recognize. Backup your critical data in multiple locations that are not connected to your network as if you get ransomware, anything connected is a target."

KnowBe4 offers a free Phishing Security Test (PST) to find out just how many of your users are Phish-prone.

Developer: Kickstarter is Dying

Agustin Cordes, founder of the game development studio Senscape, behind the Indie hits Scratches, Asylum, Serena, and the now-shelved The Case of Charles Dexter Ward writes:

I didn't want to believe it, because I love the idea of crowdfunding, but there's no way around this: we are experiencing its decline.

It would be a whole different matter if our campaign [for the game The Case of Charles Dexter Ward] were an isolated case of plain bad luck, but it's not—from small teams with modest goals to high-profile developers with solid track records, we're seeing a very grim scenario where too many campaigns are failing for no other reason than lack of interest.

Note that I'm saying lack of interest in crowdfunding, not the games themselves, which generally have received great feedback. October in particular has been a dreadful month for Kickstarter, perhaps the worst I've seen, and it's supposed to be the second month of the Kickstarter year that attracts most pledges.

It's hardly surprising after reading this article by GameSpot [see below] claiming that funding for Kickstarter games has dropped by more than half in 2014. How I wish they had posted that before we launched this campaign...

More at kickstarter.com.

*                    *                    *

In the above-referenced GameSpot article, Emanuel Maiberg writes:

If data from the first half of the year is any indication, funding for Kickstarter games in 2014 will drop by more than half compared to 2013, according to game consulting and market intelligence agency ICO Partners.

2013 saw 446 Kickstarter game projects get funded compared to the 175 projects that were funded in the first half of 2014 (between January 1 and June 30). If funding keeps going at that rate for the second half of the year, 2014 will see only a 20 percent decline in the number of successful Kickstarters. However, things look more grim when looking at the total amount of money pledged.

Kickstarter games raised $58 million in 2013, while the first half of 2014 stands at $13.5 million. "If 2014's second half is comparable (something that is not easy considering you need a similar number of big hits), 2014 would be less than half of what 2013 has been...A sobering consideration," ICO Partner CEO Thomas Bidaux said.

Bidaux theorizes that the decline is in part because all the big name Kickstarter projects were already funded. In 2013, 21 project brought in more than $500,000 in funding, a lot of which had recognizable brands or developers behind them. These include projects like Torment: Tides of Numenera, Mighty No. 9, and Elite: Dangerous. So far, only three projects raised more than $500,000 in 2014: Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Amplitude, and Unsung Story.

Another reason for the decline, Bidaux thinks, is that people are more aware that Kickstarter projects can fail. In 2013, we saw success stories like Double Fine's Broken Age and the Oculus Rift, but now we've also seen projects like Yogventures and Clang fall apart.

Finally, Bidaux says that some priojects might be going directly to Steam Early Access instead of Kickstarter, which might be better for many developers with playable builds since there's no end date for the funding campaign.

Cosyspeed Camslinger 105 and 160 Camera Bags

Product category: Camera bag

Manufacturer: Cozyspeed

Model: Camslinger 105 and 160

Web site: www.cosyspeed.com

Price: about $100 for the 105 and $120 for the 160

"Wear your mirrorless camera like a western hero wears his beloved revolver." — that's the slogan from the folks at Cosyspeed who make the Camslinger 105 and 160 camera bags (and lots of others).

The Camslinger is a unique camera bag which you can wear like a normal belt or on top of your boring, non-camera-bag belt. Perhaps the most important detail about the Cosyspeed Camslinger is that it's specifically designed to work with mirrorless cameras.

The Camslinger is available in two different bag sizes (the 105 and the 160). One size is just for the actual mirrorless camera and lens (105) and its bigger brother (the 160) is for the camera, lens, and a bit of equipment—like another lens.

We tested the Camslinger 160 for the Sony NEX 5R with two lenses to see how the spacing in the bag worked.

The advantage of putting the bag on your belt is that you can get the camera quickly out of the bag and (hopefully) never ever miss a chance of getting the perfect picture. Several configurable interior dividers guarantee it will fit your camera perfectly.

The belt is also quite comfortable and easy to adapt to your body. Also there is more equipment available so you can get an extra pocket for your phone, lenses or other small accessories.

All of these accessories can be attached to your "Batman Utility Belt" in the name of fighting crime and protecting defenseless civilians—or at least getting great shots of them!

Two different buttons (see pic) can be configured to allow for different camera sizes. Getting them to work smoothly can be a bit tricky but, once mastered, they are a real life-saver! In the meantime there is an elastic band which you can use if you just want to close the bag quicker—the band is also the fastest way to open the bag and get your camera ready to shoot.

Included with purchase is something called the Fingercamstrap 10 which can be attached to your camera and makes it very easy to grab it from the bag quickly with just your finger and gives you an added sense of security while you are holding your camera. This little thing is amazing.

The quality of the Camslinger is solid and protects the camera well from bumps, dust and a bit of splashed water. On the downside, while the exterior fabric may look waterproof, the sides are unfortunately not all the way closed sometimes. A completely waterproof solution would be ideal for rough outside conditions like a tornado or hurricane—but this bag will definitely do the job against your average urban puddle.

Sure, it's a little extra weight to lug around but you will always have your camera it nearby when you need to snap a quick shot. Just don't forget it's there, because it's so comfortable you might not even notice it!

To me, this is the camera bag with the quality and features I've been waiting for for a very long time.

Review contributed by Tobias Waldenmeier

LG G Watch W100

Product category: Smartwatch

Manufacturer: LG Electronics

Model: G Watch W100

Web site: www.lg.com

Price: $ 229.90

I received the LG G W100 smartwatch with an LG Smartphone but, never fear, it operates independently of LG smartphones. You can use it with just about any newer Android phones—all you need is the "Android Wear App."

The W100 is not the smallest watch on the market but for a smartwatch it is an acceptable size. The angular style (see pic) makes it possible to have a big 1.65" IPS LCD display. After wearing it for two weeks solid, I can say it is very convenient to have so many of the features of your Android phone just a glance away.

The wristband is a plain, boring, rubber and black, but at least it doesn't distract away from the watch itself. Nevertheless you can switch it with just any other 22mm (0.86inch) 'regular' wristband on the market.

As soon as I anticipated the watch's arrival, I wondered how useful it would really turn out to be. The answer: pretty useful! The W100 transfers all notifications which show up on your phone to the screen. For example, you can see incoming messages or calls, count your steps with Google Now, check the weather, oh and did I mention that it also tells you what time it is?

To answer a message you can use Google Voice and to answer a call you simply swipe across the watch—however, you still have to answer the call on your phone, there's no audio on the watch. To get used to the system you should check out the introduction video in Google Wear. It gets pretty intuitive after a few times wearing and using the watch.

In terms of battery life, it's not like the "normal" watches we all know that use small, round silver batteries that usually last about a year. It's designed more like a phone with a built-in rechargeable battery and a little charging station that connects to any standard USB charger. I started the morning with a fully-charged G Watch and was able to effectively check the time until the afternoon of the following day. This is not a marathon runner, but it'll get you through a full day, and then some. The battery life is an important topic and will surely get better with each new release.

I will be excited to hear about a smartwatch that lasts for a whole week before you have to charge it again!

After a few weeks, I can definitely say the W100—and the concept of a smartwatch itself—is an interesting concept. I think you'll feel the same way if you decide to try one. For starters, you won't check your phone nearly as many times you did before, plus now you can check your messages without creating a distraction during a business meeting or romantic evening—you don't even need to touch the watch display!

Wearing the W100 got a lot of attention from other people. It's easy (and fun!) to explain you are wearing an innovative new product. However, to make your friends even more jealous you can set the brightness of the display higher (or lower for more discreet occasions).

But let me explain how it works; in the case you are wearing it casually on you wrist while riding the train to work or sitting in a meeting but still want to check what time it is, all you have to do is rotate your wrist in the direction of your face and the display with become brighter...all on its own! This makes it easier to hide your smartwatch when you don't want it to be too bright or distracting and also reduce jealousy levels of your friends and loved ones. But don't worry, this setting is easily customizable and sure to please everyone!

As a follower of smartwatches you can be sure things will get more and more interesting as the market develops. Even as I was writing this piece, LG already released the LG G Watch R—a round smartwatch. Hopefully we'll be able to tell you all about the G Watch R soon!

Review contributed by Tobias Waldenmeier

Specs (from LG):

———————————————

OS: Android Wear OS

Strap: 22mm (0.86inch) changeable

Screen: 1.65" IPS LCD

Dimensions: 37.9 x 46.5 x 9.95 mm

Weight: 63 g

Battery: 400 mAh

Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 400 processor with 1.2GHz CPU

Bluetooth: 4.0

Total internal memory: 4GB internal storage and 512 MB RAM

Ports and connectors: Micro USB on Charging Cradle

Sensors: 9 Axis (Accelerometer/Compass/Gyro)

In the box: LG G Watch, Charging Cradle, Travel Adapter, Quick Start and Safety Guides

Multiple award-winning author Charles Carr has written more than two thousand newspaper articles, magazine stories, and columns for many publications including the San Diego Union Tribune, The Californian, The North County Times, Parent Magazine, ComputerScene, and ComputorEdge Magazine where he has been an editor for more than two decades. He is also a television producer/director with shows both currently airing and in production on Cox Cable and elsewhere.

In the 1990s, Charles wrote 3DHouse, a complete inside-and-out virtual reality tour of his family's log home in Southern California. One of the first virtual reality programs ever created, 3DHouse enjoyed tens of thousands of shareware downloads on all major portals. He also sold the rights to Radio Shack and Egghead Software. 3DHouse has since been featured in many books and articles about VR.

Carr has also been commissioned to write and/or directed many of his own stage plays. Several years ago, Carr and others looking for ways to help organizations struggling in difficult economic times, founded Art Animates Life (www.artanimateslife.org).

To date, Art Animates Life, a CA incorporated, federal non-profit, has raised tens-of-thousands of dollars for San Diego area disaster relief, an arts non-profit and municipal gallery, a community outreach center, and several struggling community theaters.

Several years ago Carr was commissioned to adapt and direct the beloved Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. The play, titled "Mr. Scrooge & Mr. Dickens," has sold out So Cal theaters for the past several years. Six shows will take place Dec. 2013 to benefit the San Marcos Historical Society.

Another original play, "All the Time in the World," has been performed many times and garnered broad acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Carr is working on a brand new adaptation of the classic Hitchcock thriller, "The Lady Vanished," to be performed spring 2014.

Carr has won many writing accolades, including San Diego Press Club awards for Best Column Writing, Best Consumer Writing, and Best Arts and Entertainment. He has repeatedly taken top honors in San Diego Songwriter's Guild competitions for his original musical compositions.

Carr is also a noted producer, director, and videographer. Several of his documentaries can currently be seen on So Cal's Cox Cable. Since its inception he has produced the Fallbrook International Film Festival's red carpet event and panel discussions.

Charles receives dozens of requests each year to appear on Southern California television and radio stations to talk about important tech events. He also speaks from time-to-time to high schools and organizations about his eclectic life in the arts.

Learn more at www.charlescarr.com.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

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

"Dictionary App," "Windows 10 is Here," "Saving a JPG as a PDF, Why?"

Dictionary App

[Regarding the October 10 Powerful AutoHotkey Replacement with RegExReplace() column:]

Re:"I have no doubt that if someone were to make the proper adjustments to the RegExs in the currently inoperable Dictionary script found at the ComputorEdge AutoHotkey download site, then it could be repaired." Any chance you might be working on it?

-Ron Cerrato, San Diego, CA

Maybe if I learn enough about AutoHotkey RegEx, but I'm pretty happy with WordWeb for now.

-Jack Dunning

Windows 10 is Here

[Regarding Jack Dunning's October 10 article, "Microsoft Announces Windows 10":]

Remember back when there were only two operating systems that mattered in the consumer market, and the other one didn't matter more than about 13%. That was way back, must be at least, hmmm, six years ago!

Well I guess I must be in the future now because I just installed Win 10 on an old, (four-year old Sky Tech 10" touchscreen tablet that had been running on 8.1). I own a number of devices, mostly used or refurbished that operate on four different operating systems with different flavors of each. Betch-ya never thought you would describe an OS as being of this or that flavor, (it's a veritable Baskins Robins out there).

In my early opinion, if they continue to improve it, the MS guys have got it right this time and it will be even better than XP or 7. It took over five hours to download, put the ISO file onto a USB stick, then install it on this prehistoric, first gen net tablet. But it's working great. No crashes or hesitations. Well the video driver could use some tweaking as the same video I watched looked ok before, now shows muddy and with strong moire (wavelike) patterns, I will send in my feedback and see if I get help for a device this old.

-Buck-o, El Cajon, CA

Saving a JPG as a PDF, Why?

[Regarding the October 10 Editors Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers column:]

I use LibreOffice Writer. I'll type the text, paste a portion of a spread sheet, then insert the JPGs. I edit the size and place the JPGs where I want. Then I export it to a PDF from the File menu.

-Dennis, San Diego

ComputorEdge always wants to hear from you, our readers. If you have specific comments about one of our articles, please click the "Tell us what you think about this article!" link at the top or bottom of the specific article/column at ComputorEdge.com. Your comments will be attached to the column and may appear at a later time in the "Editor's Letters" section.If you want to submit a short "ComputorQuick Review", or yell at us, please e-mail us at ceeditor@computoredge.com. If you would like to review our recent e-books, please visit ComputorEdge E-Books.

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