Digital Ups and Downs

Digital solid state technology has allowed for the development of many new devices that can perform a variety of functions around the house. They dim our lights, control our heating and air conditioning and open our doors. While they are internally very complex, because they are comprised of integrated circuits with few or no moving parts many can be manufactured inexpensively. As reliable as they are, these devices do fail and often a replacement is the only real option rather than repair. For a light dimmer or door bell, that is no real issue. When the device is part of a larger system, replacement can be a hassle and expensive.

Recently a friend told me that his automatic garage door opener quit working and he had to replace it. He did all the troubleshooting steps found in the owner’s manual like checking the battery, making sure the unit was getting power, etc. He noted that he could open and close the door using the button on the wall but that neither of the remotes in the cars seemed to work. He was surprised that there might be an easy and inexpensive fix.

Rather than replacing the entire system I told him about a way to fix his problem for a fraction of the cost of a new opener. If the radio receiver in the unit has failed, you can bypass it with a replacement radio receiver. The receiver is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and plugs into any AC outlet. It comes with two new remotes for your car which will replace the ones that came with your original opener.

Installation is a breeze as all you need to do is plug the unit into an AC outlet and connect two small low voltage wires to your opener motor assembly. The new unit receives signals from the new remote controls and will operate your door just like the original remotes. The cost of the new receiver and two remotes is around $50 which is about 20% of the cost of a complete new unit.

Most home improvement stores carry the replacement kits or you can go on line to find one that is compatible with your brand of opener.

This is a great example of how digital devices can really save some money. The expensive part of any automatic garage door opener is the motor and lift assembly; the “brains” of the system are contained on a few integrated circuit chips costing pennies. So in this case we kept the expensive parts that were still working and replaced the low-cost brains which were not. An all day job of changing the entire unit is replaced by a job that takes about an hour including going to the store to buy the unit.

Don't Let Your Data Get Lost in the Cloud

Last week we discussed some major changes in the way we access, use, and store information on our home and/or office computers or on many other digital devices. Since I first discussed cloud computing in this column about six months ago, this trend continues to accelerate. Our data, once stored on drives within our computers, are now stored on the cloud. The cloud being one of many large servers interconnected via the Internet.

For sure, the benefits of using the cloud for storage are many. Our pictures, music, documents and financial records are safely stored and backed up. They can be accessed from anyplace we can get access to the Internet. When the computer fails or our smart phone is lost, we still have all the information. Sounds good to me.

But, using these free and pay cloud services can make us lazy and may provide a false sense of security. Remember, you must have access to the Internet to have access to your data. I know that at my house and office Internet access is reliable but there are times when it is not available. Storms, power outages, failures with Cincinnati Bell or Time Warner’s equipment can keep us off the net.

Most of the free or low cost cloud services do not guarantee that data will always be there. While it is unlikely, even large servers with many levels of redundancy can experience catastrophic failures. Why take a chance?

The best way to be sure that your data is safe and accessible is to make sure that you keep back up copies. Storing family pictures on Flickr or Snapfish is a wonderful way to organize and share your pictures with loved ones, but these Internet services should not be the only place you have copies.

For important files like family photos or financial or tax information, you should make copies and place them in a safe place. Since most computers can burn DVD or CD discs, you can periodically make copies for only pennies. In fact, making two copies of the files takes only a minute or two. You keep one and ask a relative or friend to keep the second copy. Most of us can store all the critical files we need on a few discs so it is not a real burden to ask a friend to keep an 8x10 envelope containing the DVDs in their closet or sock drawer.

If for some reason you can’t gain access to your files stored in the cloud and your DVD copy is damaged by fire or flood, the second copy stored at another location will be a life saver. It really comes down to the old saying: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

More "Clouds" on the Computer Horizon

It is getting cloudier these days. Don’t look for any heavy rains to quench our parched lawns but you may see some major changes in the way you access, use, and store information on your home and/or office computers or many other digital devices. I first discussed cloud computing in this column about six months ago. Since then the trend of migrating data, once stored on drives within your computer, to the cloud continues to accelerate.

At one point home and office computers were designed to handle all of your tasks with internal computational power. The data was in your machine. Computers were touted as having large capacity disk drives and faster processing power. Today you will see advertised laptops, netbooks, smart phones and other devices with relatively small internal storage capacity and modest internal processing power. This is possible because your programs and data are not stored on your machine. Rather, the data are sent to the cloud via the internet and the actual programs are running on very large computer servers located at datacenters around the world.

There is a famous quote by Thomas Watson, the former Chairman of IBM. In 1943 he said "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." In the years following that statement he was roundly ridiculed as computers became ubiquitous companions to most every facet of modern life. In retrospect, he may have been right on target.
What we are seeing today might be more than five large computers serving the world’s
needs, but for sure the trend is fewer “real” computers and millions of portable devices connected to them.

A few weeks ago, Steve Jobs, the flamboyant Founder and CEO of Apple held a press conference to release a new model of the MacBook Air. This newest laptop offering is less than an inch thick and weighs about the same as most fast food meals. This powerful but svelte machine from Apple has neither a hard drive nor any type of optical disc drive. You can’t insert a CD or DVD. Rather, the machine is designed to store a limited amount of data within the machine’s flash memory and use the Internet to connect to the cloud where all the heavy lifting and storage will be handled. So there is no more waiting for a DVD to come from Netflix. You will just log on to the Netflix site.

Many of us already use cloud computing without our knowing it. We store and share our pictures on Flickr or Snapfish. We listen to music on our computer or phone using Pandora. We have our calendars and address books stored on Goggle. Look for many more services to become available as the computing skies become cloudier.

Cloud computing does not come without some potential downsides. Next week we will look at some of the negative aspects and what you can do to address them.

Put Your Family in the Movies

This time of year many of us are looking forward to the holiday season and the parties and festivities that fill the months of November and December. I found a great web site that can add a bit of fun and flare to your next holiday party invitation or the greetings you might send to friends and family this year.

A few years ago you might remember a series of fun animated videos that were all the rage as they were shared by millions on the Internet. The videos superimposed the heads of various celebrities and politicians on the images of real or animated bodies of other people or characters. You can see some by clicking here . That site, JibJab.com, branched out and now offers a service that allows you to make your own videos using pictures of you, your friends and relatives and even your pets. You can send specialized party invitations or create your personalized version of classic films. Last year I created a family version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” for our family and emailed copies to our relatives.

JibJab has various holiday themes already loaded on the site. You can make movies, cartoons and electronic greeting card. There is even a library of specialized certificates and awards that can be created and downloaded for printing and framing.

The process is easy and requires you to have no special computer prowess. You will need a computer connected to the Internet. After going to JibJab.com you will be prompted through all the steps. You will need to have stored on your computer copies of photographs of the people you want to feature in your creations. It is best to have pictures with close ups of the faces you want to use as it is only the head and face portion of the pictures that will be used.

There is a free version and a subscription version of the JibJab service. The annual subscription is only about $10 and provides more features than the free version.

There are other similar sites that you might find, but the JibJab site seems to be the easiest and least expensive to use. Give it a try and add some creativity to that next holiday party invitation or greeting.

The End of a Love Hate Relationship

I have to tell the truth. There is another woman in my life. Don’t worry. My wife, a very understanding and open person, knows about her. This woman who has been with me for years has helped me so much. She is knowledgeable, precise, and articulate and has the patience of Job. Nevertheless, she can also be a source of utter frustration. In fact, I have decided that I am going to end my relationship with her. I would rather spend this time with a man.

The woman in question is locked inside my GPS. There she remains ready at a moment’s notice to help me find my way. She has an Australian accent (I programmed her that way since it makes me feel cosmopolitan as I drive around southern Ohio), but that will soon change.

My decision to end this relationship comes after completing a recent road trip to the east coast. Don’t get me wrong, she was always there. She offered her directions. But her inflexibility is nothing short of maddening. Here is an example.

I have taken this same trip several times. Since it requires that I get to West Virginia, I have found that taking the AA Highway from Alexandria, KY to Grayson, KY, a diagonal route through Kentucky, is better than routing through Lexington or southern Ohio. She strongly disagrees. As I drove on the AA highway, she continued to try to get me back into Ohio. I think she may be “on the take” from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

I think that the most irritating thing about her is her patient but condescending tone. Her mantra “Recalculating …make a U–turn in .5 miles” is still burning in my ears. I figure that it is time for a change so I am going to let her go and program my GPS with a guy’s voice and see if that helps.

I think my wife will be relieved; she was beginning to question my sanity as I continued a dialogue, often heated, with “Sweetie.” That’s right; I do have to call her something. So I have to decide if my new best friend will be an American or not. Perhaps if I make him a German our relationship will be better. I don’t speak German. “Thanks for the advice, Günter, but I am taking the AA highway anyway.”