Below is a very thoughtful comment relating to my post regarding battery operated DTV converters.
Well – the time has come for a non-techie such as myself to ask a few (environmental) questions:
What’s a person to do with all the outdated “techno-stuff” that now resides in our basements and closet shelves across the USA? Perhaps now is the time to use your blog to GO Green and help us know what to expect before we fling out buttons, screens and knobs to the wind. What is the best way to dispose of TVs and other outdated broadcast delivery devices? What will be happening to our nearest landfill when the sets begin to decompose? Is there a proper way to say farewell to our old rabbit-eared friends with the advent of new digital arrivals. And why should we care?
The author has some very good questions and I promise to spend some time in the next few months addressing these very serious issues. Since the comment was posted anonymously I can only thank him or her via this post and hope that it gets read.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Save Time and Money with E-Banking
A few years ago I began using online (electronic) banking and since that time I have found less and less need to visit a brick and mortar bank and have saved lots of time and money in the process. For many readers the information I am about to provide is old hat, but if you have not begun using online banking you may wish to read on.
Almost every major bank now offers customers access to their accounts online. Not only can you check balances, you can set up automatic payments, transfer funds and monitor several different accounts. In most cases these are all free services. They should be free. After all, you are actually saving the bank money by automating your banking activity.
One of the great benefits of electronic banking is bill paying online. With the cost of First Class postage scheduled to go up again soon, the cost to mail those checks at the end of the month can add up. Also, you may have noticed that some credit card companies continue to shorten the time you have to make your payments. Using the US Post Office you almost have to mail the payment the same day you receive the statement or your payment might be late, resulting in fees and penalties. With online banking you can tell the bank what day to transfer the funds to the credit card company. No mail, no postage and no delay. If you tell the bank to transfer on the 30th of April, the funds are received that day.
You can set up automatic payments as well. If you have a mortgage payment due each month you can set up your online checking account to make a payment each month on a specific date. If you travel a lot this is a great way to make sure that the bills get paid while you are away.
Some people are a bit apprehensive about the nature of online banking. No longer do they actually touch the checks, if they have direct deposit for their pay checks they don’t actually see what they have earned at the end of the month. While this can be off-setting at first, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
If you are not now banking online, I suggest that your start slowly. Begin by using your computer to track your accounts. See when your checks clear. Set up a notification system that tells the bank to email you when a direct deposit is received into one of your accounts. This will get you comfortable with the process. You may then want to begin paying some of your regular bills online. The electric and phone companies and your mortgage are good ones to begin with. Each month add other bills to the online list. Soon writing a paper check will seem strange.
I have online accounts at both Fifth Third Band and PNC. Both have very easy to use systems. Setting up your bill paying for the first time takes only slightly longer than it does to write a real check and place it in an envelope. Since most major banks deal with thousands of merchants and companies, they already have most of the required information needed to make the electronic payments. All you need to do is give them your account number and fill in the amount of the payment.
Once you get used to the system you will find that paying your bills, a task that used to take me more than an hour to do each month, can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes. And because you don’t need a postage stamp for each payment, the savings add up.
A great by-product of online banking is the ability to generate various records and reports. You can keep track of the amounts each payee has received and when they received them. All of this information can be transferred into your personal financial software programs like Quicken® or Mircrosoft Money Plus®. These records are also invaluable if you do your taxes using any of the leading products like TaxCut® or TurboTax®. I think that once you try online banking you will find that you will never want to go back to the old way.
Almost every major bank now offers customers access to their accounts online. Not only can you check balances, you can set up automatic payments, transfer funds and monitor several different accounts. In most cases these are all free services. They should be free. After all, you are actually saving the bank money by automating your banking activity.
One of the great benefits of electronic banking is bill paying online. With the cost of First Class postage scheduled to go up again soon, the cost to mail those checks at the end of the month can add up. Also, you may have noticed that some credit card companies continue to shorten the time you have to make your payments. Using the US Post Office you almost have to mail the payment the same day you receive the statement or your payment might be late, resulting in fees and penalties. With online banking you can tell the bank what day to transfer the funds to the credit card company. No mail, no postage and no delay. If you tell the bank to transfer on the 30th of April, the funds are received that day.
You can set up automatic payments as well. If you have a mortgage payment due each month you can set up your online checking account to make a payment each month on a specific date. If you travel a lot this is a great way to make sure that the bills get paid while you are away.
Some people are a bit apprehensive about the nature of online banking. No longer do they actually touch the checks, if they have direct deposit for their pay checks they don’t actually see what they have earned at the end of the month. While this can be off-setting at first, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
If you are not now banking online, I suggest that your start slowly. Begin by using your computer to track your accounts. See when your checks clear. Set up a notification system that tells the bank to email you when a direct deposit is received into one of your accounts. This will get you comfortable with the process. You may then want to begin paying some of your regular bills online. The electric and phone companies and your mortgage are good ones to begin with. Each month add other bills to the online list. Soon writing a paper check will seem strange.
I have online accounts at both Fifth Third Band and PNC. Both have very easy to use systems. Setting up your bill paying for the first time takes only slightly longer than it does to write a real check and place it in an envelope. Since most major banks deal with thousands of merchants and companies, they already have most of the required information needed to make the electronic payments. All you need to do is give them your account number and fill in the amount of the payment.
Once you get used to the system you will find that paying your bills, a task that used to take me more than an hour to do each month, can now be accomplished in a matter of minutes. And because you don’t need a postage stamp for each payment, the savings add up.
A great by-product of online banking is the ability to generate various records and reports. You can keep track of the amounts each payee has received and when they received them. All of this information can be transferred into your personal financial software programs like Quicken® or Mircrosoft Money Plus®. These records are also invaluable if you do your taxes using any of the leading products like TaxCut® or TurboTax®. I think that once you try online banking you will find that you will never want to go back to the old way.
Friday, April 18, 2008
DTV on Batteries?
I read and enjoy your article every week in the Harrison Press. Keep up the good work.
I have a 12 volt TV/DVD player with a large antennae my wife and I use at our property in Osgood, Indiana. Since we don't have electricity (its where we go to get away), but like to get the weather and news occasionally, the 12 volt TV works well for us. Does the converter require 120 volts? I suppose it does, but are 12 volt ones available? We may be losing our TV out at Laughery Creek if we have to come up with the higher voltage.
Will there be a 12 volt HD TV available? I hate to go that route, but the world changes in many ways and I'm not in charge. I hope I haven't used up my question allotment. Thanks for the info, I do enjoy your article.
Thanks for the good questions. I have not seen any converter on the market that runs on 12v DC. Since the converters do not consume a great deal of energy you could use a car battery and purchase an inexpensive DC to AC power inverter to power it. The Zenith model we have here at CET uses only 7 watts of power @ 120 volts so a charged up 12 volt car battery would run it for many hours and most likely power it for a weekend or more.
I have not seen any DC powered Digital sets that I would recommend yet. The few that are out there are way over priced but I am sure lower priced models will be available soon.
Some people who have radios that have the TV band will also loose that feature in Feb.2009. I use mine to listen to the audio form the TV while I am doing dishes or working in the garage. That will no longer work since it picks up the analog signals only.
I have a 12 volt TV/DVD player with a large antennae my wife and I use at our property in Osgood, Indiana. Since we don't have electricity (its where we go to get away), but like to get the weather and news occasionally, the 12 volt TV works well for us. Does the converter require 120 volts? I suppose it does, but are 12 volt ones available? We may be losing our TV out at Laughery Creek if we have to come up with the higher voltage.
Will there be a 12 volt HD TV available? I hate to go that route, but the world changes in many ways and I'm not in charge. I hope I haven't used up my question allotment. Thanks for the info, I do enjoy your article.
Thanks for the good questions. I have not seen any converter on the market that runs on 12v DC. Since the converters do not consume a great deal of energy you could use a car battery and purchase an inexpensive DC to AC power inverter to power it. The Zenith model we have here at CET uses only 7 watts of power @ 120 volts so a charged up 12 volt car battery would run it for many hours and most likely power it for a weekend or more.
I have not seen any DC powered Digital sets that I would recommend yet. The few that are out there are way over priced but I am sure lower priced models will be available soon.
Some people who have radios that have the TV band will also loose that feature in Feb.2009. I use mine to listen to the audio form the TV while I am doing dishes or working in the garage. That will no longer work since it picks up the analog signals only.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
More Information About DTV Converters & Coupons
In the last few weeks I have received several emails and phone calls regarding the DTV Converters and the Federal Government’s DTV Converter Coupon Program. There seems to continue to be lots of misinformation and confusion. I will try shed some light on some of the most often asked questions.
Many have written complaining that they have yet to receive the coupons even though they requested them right after the first of the year. While the program officially began in January 2008, the government stated that they would not begin to send the coupons out until the converters were available in stores. Since the coupons have a 90 day expiration period and you may not request new ones for expired coupons, they wanted to make sure that once you had the coupons you could use them. The coupons are being mailed out in order of when the requests were received. I have a few friends who applied in early January and they received their coupons last week. If you have a computer, you can check on the status of your coupon by going to www.dtv2009.gov/CheckStatus.aspx
Some people have related that their applications for coupons have been rejected. In most cases it is because they did not provide a street address. You can not give a PO box number on your application since the coupons are being allocated based on two coupons per each street address. If you live in an apartment and provide an apartment number you will be fine. Some people who are in nursing homes or other assisted living situations are not eligible for coupons. You can apply for coupons even if you do not need them and give them to someone who does need one but is not eligible under the street address rubric.
Finding the converters should not be too much of a problem as they are stocked by most big box retailers. I did have to chuckle the other day when I found the stock of converters at Best Buy® relegated to the bottom shelf of a dimly lit far corner of the store. I guess they could have covered them up with a tarp. “Sure sir, we have converters. How about I show you a $2000 DTV set first?”
There are a few things that you might want to consider if you are waiting to get the converters. It is VERY unlikely that the prices will fall and the features will most likely not improve since most of the converters are essentially the same and the price is already so low that the retailer is not making the mark up they regularly get on other electronics. Since the local stations are already providing these digital channels, you can begin using the converters right away thus getting some of the new channels and programs. Also, picture quality will improve for many who have interference-prone reception. For the most part, the picture quality will be even across all stations and your old analog set will never look better.
As we get closer to the February 2009 analog cut off date I am sure there will continue to be questions and concerns. I will try to address them here so that your transition is a smooth one. Come Wednesday morning, February 18, 2009 we want the only snow to be on the ground, not on your TV screen.
Many have written complaining that they have yet to receive the coupons even though they requested them right after the first of the year. While the program officially began in January 2008, the government stated that they would not begin to send the coupons out until the converters were available in stores. Since the coupons have a 90 day expiration period and you may not request new ones for expired coupons, they wanted to make sure that once you had the coupons you could use them. The coupons are being mailed out in order of when the requests were received. I have a few friends who applied in early January and they received their coupons last week. If you have a computer, you can check on the status of your coupon by going to www.dtv2009.gov/CheckStatus.aspx
Some people have related that their applications for coupons have been rejected. In most cases it is because they did not provide a street address. You can not give a PO box number on your application since the coupons are being allocated based on two coupons per each street address. If you live in an apartment and provide an apartment number you will be fine. Some people who are in nursing homes or other assisted living situations are not eligible for coupons. You can apply for coupons even if you do not need them and give them to someone who does need one but is not eligible under the street address rubric.
Finding the converters should not be too much of a problem as they are stocked by most big box retailers. I did have to chuckle the other day when I found the stock of converters at Best Buy® relegated to the bottom shelf of a dimly lit far corner of the store. I guess they could have covered them up with a tarp. “Sure sir, we have converters. How about I show you a $2000 DTV set first?”
There are a few things that you might want to consider if you are waiting to get the converters. It is VERY unlikely that the prices will fall and the features will most likely not improve since most of the converters are essentially the same and the price is already so low that the retailer is not making the mark up they regularly get on other electronics. Since the local stations are already providing these digital channels, you can begin using the converters right away thus getting some of the new channels and programs. Also, picture quality will improve for many who have interference-prone reception. For the most part, the picture quality will be even across all stations and your old analog set will never look better.
As we get closer to the February 2009 analog cut off date I am sure there will continue to be questions and concerns. I will try to address them here so that your transition is a smooth one. Come Wednesday morning, February 18, 2009 we want the only snow to be on the ground, not on your TV screen.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
When saying "No" Is Really Saying "Yes"
Perhaps more than any other application enabled by the Internet, email has changed the way we communicate. The ability to send words and pictures to friends and family around the corner or around the world is nothing short of awesome. Once the province of a few geeks (remember CompuServe), email has become a “must have” for the teen as much as Grandpa Joe or Grandma Mary. In fact, one of the fastest growing segments of email users is made up of retired persons. With families moving far from home for job or school, email allows a consistent, albeit virtual, closeness.
With all the pros there comes a few really irritating negatives. Perhaps the most irritating is spam. Unlike the meat byproduct of the same name, email spam does more than sit on the shelf waiting for some calamity of nature to force its consumption. Email spam gets into your email box filling it up with junk. All of us at one time of another have been offered a reward of millions of dollars if we would only help out some poor Nigerian housewife shelter her fortune from the corrupt government. I won’t even get into the various emails I receive offering to modify one or more of my body parts.
It is not uncommon for some heavy email users to sift though dozens of bogus spam emails everyday. I have known some people who have actually changed email accounts periodically and started over again. This is a serious move, since you need to notify the people you do want to have your address of your new information.
Here are some tips to greatly reduce the amount of spam you get.
- Be selective to whom you provide your email address. While it might seem harmless to give it to some companies for warranty registration, they really don’t need it. They have your phone number and postal address.
- If you do get spam from some organization you don’t know and there is a message at the end of the email telling you to “click here to be removed from our list,” don’t do it. Clicking on that return message tells the spammer that they have a live address. Before you clicked, they had no idea if you were getting the spam or not. Now they know you opened it and read it. Gotcha! Saying ‘No” is really saying “YES!”
- Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) will provide you with some anti spam software as part of the monthly price for service. When you first begin to use the software it may take some time for it to be effective. Most will flag and block some emails that you do want. You may need to “teach” the software your preferences.
I am sure you have read about the latest Spam target. Now many of us are getting unwanted Text Messages on our mobile phones. Not only are these causing us to waste time deleting them, they are costing us money since most of us pay a few cents for every text message we get even if we don’t open it. Most of the major mobile carriers are working to alleviate this new venue for spammers. I, for one, hope they are successful.
With all the pros there comes a few really irritating negatives. Perhaps the most irritating is spam. Unlike the meat byproduct of the same name, email spam does more than sit on the shelf waiting for some calamity of nature to force its consumption. Email spam gets into your email box filling it up with junk. All of us at one time of another have been offered a reward of millions of dollars if we would only help out some poor Nigerian housewife shelter her fortune from the corrupt government. I won’t even get into the various emails I receive offering to modify one or more of my body parts.
It is not uncommon for some heavy email users to sift though dozens of bogus spam emails everyday. I have known some people who have actually changed email accounts periodically and started over again. This is a serious move, since you need to notify the people you do want to have your address of your new information.
Here are some tips to greatly reduce the amount of spam you get.
- Be selective to whom you provide your email address. While it might seem harmless to give it to some companies for warranty registration, they really don’t need it. They have your phone number and postal address.
- If you do get spam from some organization you don’t know and there is a message at the end of the email telling you to “click here to be removed from our list,” don’t do it. Clicking on that return message tells the spammer that they have a live address. Before you clicked, they had no idea if you were getting the spam or not. Now they know you opened it and read it. Gotcha! Saying ‘No” is really saying “YES!”
- Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) will provide you with some anti spam software as part of the monthly price for service. When you first begin to use the software it may take some time for it to be effective. Most will flag and block some emails that you do want. You may need to “teach” the software your preferences.
I am sure you have read about the latest Spam target. Now many of us are getting unwanted Text Messages on our mobile phones. Not only are these causing us to waste time deleting them, they are costing us money since most of us pay a few cents for every text message we get even if we don’t open it. Most of the major mobile carriers are working to alleviate this new venue for spammers. I, for one, hope they are successful.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Portable Word Processor A Real Winner
With more and more of us working away from the office, on the road, or at the local coffee shop and more and more students leaving the dorm room for the library or the park bench, there has been a veritable explosion in the sale of laptop computers. Once only for the affluent, laptops are now almost a necessity for many of us. Try as they might to provide the power and features of the desk top cousin, designers are always faced with the same challenges: Provide a full featured computer in a small package and make it run for an extended time without a large and heavy battery. While some progress has been made, many of the current inventory of machines continues to fetch a small king’s ransom.
I ran across a solution for many road warriors and students alike. This innovative device has a powerful easy to use word processor, a good mail feature and comes ready to do most any math calculation you can imagine. It is able to do this with very limited power requirements, comes in an ultra light case, a black and white integrated printer and is available at an almost unbelievable modest price at thousands of stores nationwide.
The word processor can handle most any language, even those that need a different alphabet. Arabic and Greek can be handled as easily as English or Spanish. I was able to write up a future column as easily as writing a shopping list. Underlining and Bolding sections of copy a snap. I was a bit disappointed with the italic feature, but I may need to get used to it. I especially like the fact that it can print out on most any size paper or envelopes. While color is an option, I can tell you that it is a real hassle and a very slow process to get true color output. If you want color you may want to use your desktop computer.
Most any math function can be accomplished with minimal input. Entering numbers and functions are a breeze. You can enter both text and numeric expressions simultaneously. The size of the spreadsheet is unlimited; however the hard copy is limited by the size of the paper.
When entering information you can delete a single character or a complete sentence with one stroke. When using it in drawing mode, the most complex intricate designs can be created. The latter feature does require some practice however.
Perhaps the most awesome feature is the portability. Because of an ergonomic design the device uses only a fraction of the energy of other word processors. As a result it can be carried in a shirt pocket or purse when not in use.
I have to say that the designers of the one I used were a bit unimaginative since they decided to offer it only with a bright yellow case. I have however seen others in other colors and styles.
With the low price, I suggest that you may wish to purchase a dozen or so. They are available in most local stores. I find that the Eberhard Faber Model #2 is the best for most of my tasks.
Oh well, Tuesday is April 1st.
I ran across a solution for many road warriors and students alike. This innovative device has a powerful easy to use word processor, a good mail feature and comes ready to do most any math calculation you can imagine. It is able to do this with very limited power requirements, comes in an ultra light case, a black and white integrated printer and is available at an almost unbelievable modest price at thousands of stores nationwide.
The word processor can handle most any language, even those that need a different alphabet. Arabic and Greek can be handled as easily as English or Spanish. I was able to write up a future column as easily as writing a shopping list. Underlining and Bolding sections of copy a snap. I was a bit disappointed with the italic feature, but I may need to get used to it. I especially like the fact that it can print out on most any size paper or envelopes. While color is an option, I can tell you that it is a real hassle and a very slow process to get true color output. If you want color you may want to use your desktop computer.
Most any math function can be accomplished with minimal input. Entering numbers and functions are a breeze. You can enter both text and numeric expressions simultaneously. The size of the spreadsheet is unlimited; however the hard copy is limited by the size of the paper.
When entering information you can delete a single character or a complete sentence with one stroke. When using it in drawing mode, the most complex intricate designs can be created. The latter feature does require some practice however.
Perhaps the most awesome feature is the portability. Because of an ergonomic design the device uses only a fraction of the energy of other word processors. As a result it can be carried in a shirt pocket or purse when not in use.
I have to say that the designers of the one I used were a bit unimaginative since they decided to offer it only with a bright yellow case. I have however seen others in other colors and styles.
With the low price, I suggest that you may wish to purchase a dozen or so. They are available in most local stores. I find that the Eberhard Faber Model #2 is the best for most of my tasks.
Oh well, Tuesday is April 1st.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Be Careful Opening Those Cute E-Cards
If you use your computer for email, I am sure that you have received one or more of those cute “E-Cards.” There are several services found on the Web that allow you to design and send greeting cards via email for most any occasion. Some can have music embedded and some even allow you to include short video clips. While most of these electronic missives are harmless, you should exercise some care when opening them. This is especially true if you don’t recognize the sender.
Unfortunately there are all too many people with nothing better to do than to hunker down in their parent’s basement eating potato chips and drinking Mountain Dew™ while figuring out how to make your online life miserable. Their personal challenge is to get into your computer, either to just cause havoc, or in some cases, to actually harvest information. In either case, you don’t want this to happen.
In the case of the E-cards, opening one of these infected cards can release a small program into your computer that can operate undetected by you. These are called “Trojan Horse” programs. Just as in the case of the citizens of ancient Troy, this gift is not to be accepted.
Because most new computers have a ton of memory and copious hard disk space, this infection may not be easy to detect, since at first your computer’s speed and functionality may feel normal.
Another clever tactic of these cyber trouble makers is to offer for free some little program that you can download. For example, you can download from the Weather Channel® web site www.weather.com a small program that will display the local temperature on the bottom of you screen. In the case of the Weather Channel®, this is a perfectly safe thing to do. However, if you get an email offering you a neat screen saver or a short funny movie to download, beware. Opening it can be a disaster.
Once infected, even the most tech savvy person will spend hours and hours cleaning up the mess. In the worst case you may need to wipe the computer’s hard drive clean and start all over again. Not a fun thing to do.
One of the best ways to protect your computer and assure security is to have installed and active a good anti virus and anti “spy-ware” software. There are several good programs from companies like McAfee www.mcaffee.com and Office Trends www.trendmicro.com I have used McAfee at home and Office Trends at work. Both do a good job at sniffing out these nefarious programs. You must keep these programs up to date. In any given week hundreds of new viruses and spy ware programs are released on the internet aimed at causing problems. Both McAfee and Office Trends update themselves automatically making sure that you have the most current protection.
Perhaps sitting down and writing a real note on real paper and placing it in a real envelope is the better course. Nowadays getting something in the mail that is not a bill or a solicitation can be a real joy.
Unfortunately there are all too many people with nothing better to do than to hunker down in their parent’s basement eating potato chips and drinking Mountain Dew™ while figuring out how to make your online life miserable. Their personal challenge is to get into your computer, either to just cause havoc, or in some cases, to actually harvest information. In either case, you don’t want this to happen.
In the case of the E-cards, opening one of these infected cards can release a small program into your computer that can operate undetected by you. These are called “Trojan Horse” programs. Just as in the case of the citizens of ancient Troy, this gift is not to be accepted.
Because most new computers have a ton of memory and copious hard disk space, this infection may not be easy to detect, since at first your computer’s speed and functionality may feel normal.
Another clever tactic of these cyber trouble makers is to offer for free some little program that you can download. For example, you can download from the Weather Channel® web site www.weather.com a small program that will display the local temperature on the bottom of you screen. In the case of the Weather Channel®, this is a perfectly safe thing to do. However, if you get an email offering you a neat screen saver or a short funny movie to download, beware. Opening it can be a disaster.
Once infected, even the most tech savvy person will spend hours and hours cleaning up the mess. In the worst case you may need to wipe the computer’s hard drive clean and start all over again. Not a fun thing to do.
One of the best ways to protect your computer and assure security is to have installed and active a good anti virus and anti “spy-ware” software. There are several good programs from companies like McAfee www.mcaffee.com and Office Trends www.trendmicro.com I have used McAfee at home and Office Trends at work. Both do a good job at sniffing out these nefarious programs. You must keep these programs up to date. In any given week hundreds of new viruses and spy ware programs are released on the internet aimed at causing problems. Both McAfee and Office Trends update themselves automatically making sure that you have the most current protection.
Perhaps sitting down and writing a real note on real paper and placing it in a real envelope is the better course. Nowadays getting something in the mail that is not a bill or a solicitation can be a real joy.
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