RTO/ERO Computer Ease

Brain Matters - Use It Or Loose It

2011-08-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

The Ad Council came up with the slogan, “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste” back in 1972. Although the Ad was for the United Negro College Fund, the sentiments ring true today, particularly with our aging population.
Retirement brings a wonderful gift of leisure. One must watch that this gift doesn’t become the driving force by which we embrace retirement. As the body will atrophy without exercise and watching how we nourish it, so will the mind. As we challenge the body to keep it strong, we must do the same with our brain. Without a healthy active brain, our mind slips away from us. Yes, Brain Matters.
There are many ways to exercise our brain and keep it healthy. One of the more critical activities would be to reduce stress. We often put a lot of pressure upon ourselves that is unnecessary. We get a lot of enjoyment from our volunteer activities, but we need to know when to say that we have reached our limit, or at least need a change. To keep stress to a tolerable level, one might want to keep a good perspective on life, as Irwin the troll of Broom Hilda fame did each day. In a comic strip, Irwin was watching the rising sun in the east. He proclaimed, “I don’t have a clue, I never did, and I never will”. In the next frame, Irwin states emphatically, “I like to start each day with the ground rules firmly established”.
Many people get a lot of pleasure from doing the daily Suduko, crossword puzzles and others in the daily paper. Some folks like to follow the bridge columns. Of course, there are many web sites where you can play free games, or enter into friendly multi person games. Let’s look at some other activities that will challenge our thinking skills.
For the analytical thinker, there are online debates. www.onlinedebate.net is a good place to start. After registering, you can check out debates on topics such as philosophy, politics, religion, technology and social issues. At this site: www.controversialforums.com/ one will find forums and discussions on ethics, morals, addiction, science, etc.
Maybe you have always wanted to put your family history to paper. If you check out Cyndi’s List, www.cyndislist.com/writing - General Resources, you will find many links to help you begin your project, keep it moving, how to improve your style and finally how to publish the final product. While you are at it, also check out the following link, www.genealogy.com/74_sharon.html for advice on the way to write a compelling family history.
For a slightly different approach, check out this site: http://zenhabits.net/11-ways-to-expand-your-mind-and-recover-from-brain-rot/. Some of this site’s suggestions are: doing puzzles, reading, math problems, meditation and learning a new language. Maybe Bobby McFarrin had a good handle on calming the troubled mind with his song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. In case you haven’t heard it in a while, check out this YouTube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU For those of you who want to learn meditation or to at least become more acquainted with some of the benefits of this practice, go to this site: http://www.onlinemeditation.org/. There are countless studies that point to the positive mental and physical benefits associated with the daily practice of meditation. Give it a try.
There is no want for online games to increase brain power. www.expandyourmind.com/home/ is a site devoted to brain stimulation. Logic problems, science facts, philosophy, myths demystified, are but a few examples of their offerings. The activities work and are fun to do.
The Human Brain site which is found at www.fi.edu/leanr/brain/exercise.html offers their approach to mental stimulation with brain training games of memory, attention, focusing, computational speed, etc. Some of these exercises are similar to the popular Nintendo DS game “Brain Age”.
Another activity said to stimulate mental processes on many levels is the learning of a new language. http://www.word2word.com/course.html is a site where there are links to over 100 different language courses offered online. Some are conversational in nature, some more in depth. You will find that there are quite a few free courses. A computer microphone will be required to participate. They tend to be quite inexpensive.
On a side note, all this talk about brain training causes my mind to think about nourishing my computer’s brain by getting rid of useless files and scanning for malware and other infections. Spybot Search & Destroy is a good tool for this. (http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html

Technology Overload

2011-08-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

Does this sound at all familiar? I wake up in the morning, check the time on my clock radio and mentally begin the process of thinking about my schedule and the things that need to be done today. Grab a cup of coffee, already brewed and waiting. The TV is first to be switched on then the computer. Read any emails arriving over night and diminish Outlook to the system tray. Sit in front of my TV and watch a news program, while opening the morning paper, all the while listening for the tell-tale sounds of an incoming email. I’ve only been awake for less than half an hour and already I are triple tasking. Am I the only one in this situation?
It seems that no matter what we do, we are being bombarded with stimuli from multiple sources. Is this creating that feeling of nirvana that the purveyors of ‘gadgets’ claim will result from using their gizmos?
While waiting in the doctor’s office we answer a few emails and grab a minute to look up symp-toms from a medical website. While having a conversation with a friend over coffee we allow our cell phone to interrupt a couple of times. And I thought that technology was going to simplify life.
With all of this information bombarding us one would think that we are learning all the time. Researchers at the University of California found that rats that were given a novel situation to master and immediately given new tasks, did not remember the new experiences as well as those that were not given new tasks to learn. Does this equate to humans also? The researchers thought so.
In another study, researchers at the University of Michigan found that people learned significantly better after a walk in nature preserve than after a walk in a busy urban environment. This suggests that being bombarded with a lot of sti-muli leaves people fatigued.
On the first day of school one year I started off giving the students in grade 5 a simple timed ad-dition quiz, with quiet surroundings. Later in the morning, I gave them a parallel quiz with age appropriate music playing. As suspected, stu-dents did significantly better with quiet surround-ings. Can humans work as efficiently with dis-tractions?
No matter how we look at it, we need to fill every idle moment with entertainment. It is as though we have an itch that needs to be scratched. Technology allows us to scratch our itch.
Another interesting observation comes to light. There was a time when we would put an L.P. on the record player and really listen to it. In this day and age, statistics show that our attention span is much shorter. Even game makers have realized this. Many of the new games which are played on the Ipod or IPhone only take a couple of minutes to play. Many people become too ‘bored’ if they have to spend more time on a game. Maybe this is why most songs are between 2 and 3 minutes long.
I am not suggesting that we all become neo luddites and shun all technology. When one con-siders the advances in medical technology and treatment, how can we but endorse and encour-age continued advances. Maybe we need to con-sider how all forms of technology affect us and what pitfalls we should be looking for.
Why not try this. When you decide it is time for exercise, instead of jumping on the treadmill, turning the TV on and the volume up so it can be easily heard over the treadmill, try something different. Go to a local nature trail for a walk. Most communities have at least one. You can walk as fast as you think best. Work up a sweat. Lastly, relax your mind. It is far better for your well being to go home physically tired than to be physically tired and mentally fatigued.
Many people report a feeling of utter fatigue at the end of a day particularly if there has been a lot of electronic input. We are not giving the brain a chance to calm down and relax after processing all of the stimuli that is thrown at it. If you really think about this, the really important stuff that the brain should be processing out of your day, is probably less than half of what it is forced to process. Technology is good, but it can really over power our senses and our brains.
One way to get a proper handle on technology is to use one techno item at a time. When com-puting, don’t listen to music, avoid using the tel-ephone – you do know that most phones have voice mail, don’t you?
Social networking can be a marvelous thing, if it is augmented with reaching out and really touching someone. Make time to talk to people. Get out and join clubs, play bridge, etc. and leave your iPod and cell phone home.
My last word of advice would be to play Simon and Garfunkel’s 59th Street Bridge Song, (Feeling Groovy), really listening to it. Maybe we will give our brains a chance to ‘chill out’ as they say in the new vernacular. “Slow down – you move to fast – you got to make the morning last …..”

Past Present and Future Technology

2011-08-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

When I look back on the past 10 years I am amazed at the amount of change that technology has embraced. We all knew the effects of con-stant change in education. When we retired, we thought that we would be sheltered from constant change, lol!
“lol” is the text message form of “laughing out loud”. This gives us a good starting point for look-ing at the development of technology. Although text messaging had been around for over 10 years, it really began to spread in the year 2000. Nowadays, it is estimated that there are over a billion text messages sent every day, and the number of new subscribers added to the networks numbers in the tens of thousands a month.
One of the most visible and discussed technolo-gical changes is the past decade is that of social networking. There were many experiments with bringing people together. Dating services and alumni groups, were working hard to build up data bases. It wasn’t until 2003 when My Space was introduced that social networking began in earnest. It wasn’t long before many groups emerged, FaceBook among them. It is estimated that there are over 16 million Canadian FaceBook users, and the list continues to grow.
It isn’t a perfect world. With the growth of email, social networking and instant messaging, there isn’t much time left to actually spend time with another individual who isn’t texting, tweeting or emailing.
The advances in entertainment in the past 10 years have also been phenomenal. Computer gaming with online play have really become a standard fun activity for many youngsters and young adults. Microsoft introduced the X-Box in 2002 and the game “Halo” became the highest grossing game sale ever. Play Station 2, and the newest Nintendo iteration started making their mark on the gaming industry. Not only do children or young adults participate, now seniors are getting into the act. Do you use a Wii on a regular basis? It can be a lot of fun.
Along with gaming, there have been many ad-vances in music and video. In the past ten years, the iPod was developed, along with iTunes. No-wadays, almost any song ever performed is avail-able for download, at a cost. We also can’t forget the E-Readers such as iPad, Kindle, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of books that can be down-loaded and kept on your electronic reading device.
We can’t forget video advances. Gone are the bulky VHS tapes. These were replaced by the DVD in about 2003. Mini versions of them were used in movie cameras. With mass production, prices dropped and quality increased. Nowadays, the cameras are sometimes less than half the size and hold many hours of video thanks to the advent of flash memory. Of course, almost everyone has a camera with them most of the time, because they carry a cell phone. It is now hard to imagine that there is any noteworthy incident that hasn’t been filmed or photographed from a number of angles, and almost instantly made available on sites such as YouTube.
During the past decade there have been greater demands for increased technology in medicine. C-T scans and ultrasound scans have increased in availability and frequency. Microsurgery, where small incisions are made and a doctor manipulates a remote controlled instrument inserted into the treatment area, are more common place. Laser eye treatment has become a standard option to wearing glasses. Noise cancelling earphones are available for helping prevent hearing loss in high noise environments. The field of prosthetics has improved tremendously from advances in technol-ogy.
What does the advancement in technology tell us about the future? Here are a few changes I expect we’ll be seeing.
As the past decade of business indicates, there will be more purchasing done on the internet than in brick and mortar stores. We will be shopping globally and seeing the UPS driver often enough to know his name.
Information will be instantly available. When travelling, if illness occurs, all of your health records will be available to a medical practitioner, likely translated automatically to the local language. Visual linkage to your family physician or specialist will be available to foreign medical facilities for collaboration. There will be a much greater reliance on a ‘team’ approach to your health.
Greater advances will take place in protecting your privacy and your personal information. Teams of technology experts constantly work on upgrades to privacy protocols and procedures. Virus attacks will become more common between people than between computers.
Because of technology advances, there will be greater safety on the roads and in the air. And of course, we will be offered new ways to entertain us while travelling.
No one can predict the future with a high degree of accuracy. The best thing to do is stay on top of change and become an activist for responsible change and personal safety. If we don’t control change, it will control us.

Taking A Different Path

2011-08-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Life as we have known it changes with retirement. No longer is there a requirement to jump out of bed by 7:00am to greet the same old routines of a work-a-day world. We can take the time to stop and smell the roses, or if you don’t have any, plant some. Don’t know how? Let your ‘Google’ do the walking. http://mygardenguide.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=869&Itemid=77.
Life becomes full of possibilities. Any of your ideas can be thoroughly researched. Between your local library and your computer, there isn’t anything that you can’t find out about.
Many people in retirement like to travel. Now you have the opportunity to travel in groups, and often save money by doing so. You may travel with old friends, previous colleagues or friends you haven’t met yet. Begin your search for possible destinations at Merit Travel, http://www.rtotravel.ca/. Don’t forget to also check out these other sites: http://www.travelocity.ca/ca, or http://www.expedia.ca.
Maybe there is a desire to travel to some out of the way places and you want to get information and find out what other travelers have thought about these locals. A multi search engine, Joongel, might be of help. http://www.joongel.com/. Through the various categories you can narrow your search to specific items such as average temperature in March. In Joongel, type a destination + “forums”, and you will get a listing of available discussions, advice and information about your possible destination.
Another fascinating way to see the world is to volunteer somewhere there is a need. There are a number of sites where you can get a lot of information: http://www.volunteertravel.com and http://www.volunteerworkabroad.net are but two of dozens of websites that cater to people who want to travel and volunteer. Be sure to check out any forums that previous adventurers posted. Just go to Google, type in the name of the agency followed by forums. If any are available, they will be listed.
Volunteering doesn’t have to be in foreign lands. There are many local and federal government websites that will help you find a volunteer assignment that suits your liking.
With all this talk about travel, it would be advisable to think about safety during your trip. First of all, check out the Canadian Government travel advisory website, http://www.voyage.gc.ca to find out if there are any advisories in places you want to go.
It is also advisable to carry some information regarding any medical conditions and drugs or remedies you are taking. You will need a comprehensive list of doctors (including phone numbers) and specialists you are seeing. Items such as prescriptions for drugs, eyeglasses and hearing aids are a must. If possible, you should have a version of your medical information translated into the language of your destination.
If you are taking a laptop or net book, you will want a U3 enabled flash drive with logins for websites, email, etc. in an encrypted portion of your drive. This flash drive will allow you to use an Internet café or hotel computer without leaving any information behind when your computer session is finished.
You can keep in touch with friends and family by using Skype. International calls are inexpensive. Using Skype does require a working Internet connection.
Thievery is quite common in some foreign countries. I found information about a travel backpack that has a lot of safety features built in such as wire mesh sewn into the handle and bag to prevent the ‘slash and grab’ type of theft. There are also security features that prevent pickpockets from grabbing your valuables, including passports. Check out www.travelonbags.com for more details. These bags are not all that expensive.
Getting involved begins right around you. Your district may have need of your services. Local libraries or seniors’ centres, Boys and Girls clubs, or youth sports leagues, all need assistance.
Smell the roses, plant some roses, or teach others how to do it. It all depends on your view of the world and how you want to enjoy your lifestyle change.

Food For Thought

2010-09-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Common sense tells us that we shouldn’t eat while working at our computer. Crumbs fall between the keys and Cheese Whiz drippings really gums up the works. However, using computers in your quest for food knowledge makes life simpler and more interesting. Did you know that tomatoes were originally introduced to Europe in the 16th century from Peru? It wasn’t until the 19th century that raw tomatoes were eaten because up until then raw tomatoes were considered poisonous: http://www.dietobio.com/aliments/en/tomato.html. So our journey begins.

Using Google, Bing or any other search tool will help us find the origins of the foods we eat. We can find out which spices goes with the foods we are preparing. We can learn about new products that are finding their way onto our super market vegetable displays. We can also find out how to prepare them, store them and what foods they go well with.

The internet offers a myriad of resources for preparing foods. Did you ever want to convert grams to ounces or cups to millilitres? Try this site: http://www.pastrywiz.com/conversion.htm.

Cooking terms can be confusing. However, this site: http://www.cookingnook.com/cooking-terms.html offers a very comprehensive list. Of course, some terms may be in a foreign language. Highlight the word then click “translate” in the Google tool bar.
Do any of your favourite foods have medicinal qualities? A Google search will soon tell you. I caution you here, be careful of folk tales when it comes to the curative powers of some foods. It is always fun to check these things our. What about the medicinal qualities of honey? If you are interested, check this out: http://itotd.com/articles/218/honey-as-medicine/.

With so many choices for foods available from the market and trying to keep up with proper nutrition, a computer can help make sense of it all. Eating Well With Canada’s Food Guide: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php, is a good place to start. For those who want to maintain a healthy weight, the Mayo Clinic publishes a healthy eating tool: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00595 as a recourse that is informative and easy to follow.

What is the storage life of fresh foods? Again, a Google search can help answer a question like this. A comprehensive list of foods and their ‘best before’ dates can be found here: http://www.stilltasty.com/.

There has been a lot of discussion over the past few years about genetically altered foods. How safe are they? How prevalent is the practice of altering the genetics of the foods we eat? What does the future hold in respect to this practice? Check out the following site for one perspective: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php.

Most everyone appreciates the taste of organically grown vegetables. You can grow your own chemical free all natural vegetables: http://www.freeorganicnews.com/6708/organic-chemical-free-gardening/. There are many websites devoted to this practice with many tips and suggestions. If you have the time, guests will certainly appreciate your efforts.

Gardening doesn’t have to be just in the summer months. Hydroponic indoor gardening may be your answer. This how to site: http://www.howtohydroponics.com/, explains the method and offers suggestions and tips on creating your own year round indoor garden. You don’t have to have a huge hydroponic garden, you can start with an herb garden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCVKK-HtlIw&feature=related.

Have you ever wanted a favourite restaurant meal, but didn’t want to go out for it, like the famous Red Lobster Pizza? The following site has hundreds of familiar restaurant recipes that you can do at home, just like the original: http://www.copykat.com/.

Is there a food that can improve thought? Are there really foods that will improve brain activity? Can memory be improved by eating certain foods? Some people think so. The site found at: http://www.ehow.com/about_5201897_types-food-stimulate-brain.html, attempts to make a positive statement in this regard. For centuries Chinese herbal chemists have touted certain herbs and foods as having the capacity to stimulate brain activity. Hmmm, food for thought!

Computer Ease is a regular feature of the
RTO/ERO Renaissance.
Share your ideas with the author at: mail4wayne@cogeco.ca or http://rtocomputerease.blogspot.com/

A New Journey

2010-04-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

After your last day at school the reality slowly sinks in that you are about to embark on a new journey. Your options are completely different than they were a month or two ago. Where to go, and how to get there. I am sure you have made a plan, now it is time to look at your options.
To begin with, you might want to watch a short video by the author Chris Crowley: (please forgive the advertising) http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3042620/transitioning_to_retirement_chris_crowley/.
If you haven’t already, you will get a ton of advice on what to do now that you have lots of time to do it. One website that I found that was a decent place to start is: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Transitioning_Into_Retirement.html. It covers a number of very general items to consider. You need only type “Transitioning to retirement” into Google or Bing to find many such resources.
Maybe you have considered working while you are still active and in good health. The first place you should go is to the OTPPB to get the current information on the amount of time you can teach part time or on a contract basis without interfering with your pension. http://www.otpp.com/wps/wcm/connect/otpp_en/Home/Member+Info/Working+After+Retirement/.
Of course, you can work outside of education. The Province of Alberta has published a tip sheet with some pertinent information that you may want to consider. Check this one out at: http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/ep/eps/tips/tips.html?EK=3337.
Maybe you’d like some adventure along with working. Possibly it isn’t the money that is important but the sense of giving something back. Have you thought about taking a working vacation? Habitat for Humanity is one option. http://habitat.ca/index.php. You can volunteer in your area or pick a spot in any of the 100 partner countries. Don’t forget to check with your church, synagogue or temple for opportunities both home and abroad.
There are opportunities for volunteer and humanitarian work in many countries of the world. One resource portal can be found at: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/volunteer/index.shtml. Be sure to read the fine print and the FAQ’s from such sites. You’ll find forums on the web with past participants talking about their personal experiences. Listings can also be found on the RTO/ERO provincial website with opportunities for working both at home and abroad.

Not everyone wants to work in retirement. After all, this is an opportune time to do all the things you didn’t have time for while you are working. (No, I do not mean cleaning out the garage!) This may be the time to learn something new, teach someone else your special skills or hobby. Ryerson University has a dedicated website to explore some learning opportunities. You can check them out at: http://youngretired.ca/Learning/Ryerson.html. You can also check out your hometown universities and see what their fees are for auditing courses. Many universities do not charge seniors for audited courses.
Let’s not forget the local Community Colleges. Many offer great programs for seniors for a reasonable fee . Also, most local school boards offer seniors’ programs and courses. You can learn a language, build new kitchen cabinets, learn to play the guitar or learn tai chi. There are many online programs and courses you can participate in. Some are free. http://www.word2word.com/course.html, There are many good online music courses. Not all of them are free, but some are. Here is an example: http://www.banjoteacher.com/_OnlineL/index_beginning_bluegrass_banjolessons_onlinendards_for_banjo_online.htm.
Many retirees find that volunteering is the most rewarding of opportunities. In many areas there is a great need for mentors. This is particularly true in business courses. There may be opportunities to mentor disadvantaged students or some trade programs that you may be qualified and interested in. Don’t forget the local arts councils and municipal committees that require a volunteer board of directors. It is hard to imagine that you couldn’t find something suitable to your interests here. A good resource for mentoring is here: http://www.edu.uwo.ca/conted/mentor/.
Lastly, I would like to caution you about being taken in by unscrupulous online sites. Be sure to check out the programs and vendors before you send in your payments. Be sure to read the fine print and know exactly what you are getting into. You may find it useful to upgrade your antivirus scanning tools to include more protection from phishing, identity theft and scams.
I hope that you find that this is, in fact, the best time of your life. I did!

Computer Ease is a regular feature of the
RTO/ERO Renaissance.
Share your ideas with the author at: mail4wayne@cogeco.ca or http://rtocomputerease.blo

The Computer: The Grass Roots Orgainzier's Best Friend

2009-11-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

There are a number of things necessary for a successful grass roots project. The main focus of the project will have to be researched thoroughly so that your statistics and supporting information are both current and accurate. Chances are, with a Google or Bing search, information on your particular cause will already appear online.
You will be able to see what others are doing in your area of concern, how successful others have been and what tactics were used to bring supporters to the cause. You may become aware of concerns that others have faced, such as any legal issues surrounding your cause. You may also find funding sources, and what experts in the field think about projects like yours.
A technical approach to research is to ‘optimize your search engine’ so that the information you find is more to the point. You can learn to do this at: http://www.seo.grassroots.org. There are sections for Volunteers and Non Profits. You can even sign up for a ‘webinar’ (online seminar).
One important step is to create a Logo. You don’t have to be a design pro to do this. Experts tell us that the logo should visually communicate what you are about. Black and white can easily be duplicated for print materials, however, a colour logo has more eye appeal for web and poster designs. Logo design can be done online. There are a number of sites, such as LogoMaker where you can design a logo http://www.logomaker.com/ppc2-1/?source=PPC|1|16|2, If you like your design you can purchase the files for under $100.00
For a free logo, check out http://cooltext.com.
Another important tool for growing your grass roots project is your ‘online presence’. Many people today use the internet to find out how motivated and realistic special interest groups are. As mentioned before, the facts and figures you have gathered can be presented in a meaningful manner. You can state clearly just how anyone can participate. Events can be advertised and you can showcase your positive results.
Your website or blog should have a name (URL) that is easily remembered. It helps to have pictures or video of members participating in your activities. You should also apply your strong teacher skills when laying out your information in a manner that will capture the interest of anyone checking out your cause.
There are many free web hosting services. Well, free is not quite true. In signing up for the ‘free’ hosting you agree to have advertising posted on your site. If this is not a problem, then a free site is the way to go. Check out:
http://www.freewebsites.com/. If you need to build your site, check out: http://www.lola.com.
Free Blog space can be found at http://www.blogger.com/start. Of course, if you can afford to pay for a website, you have a lot more control over what is on your site and who has access to add or change site information.
The most successful way of getting a message out is through the social networking sites, It is estimated that on an average day, 13% of all internet users visit at least one social networking site. An excellant ‘How To’ video has been produced to guide you through this process.
http://www.howcast.com/videos/88596-How-To-Create-a-Grassroots-Movement-Using-SocialNetworking-Sites. Using this method of communication, your message or project can be spread as far afield as your network extends. It is also a cool way to bring people together with a variety of expertise to look at different aspects of the same cause.
You don’t even need to have a computer with you at all times to benefit from the Social Networking aspects of grass roots projects. Many people are using a cell phone or Blackberry to keep up to date with FaceBook, YouTube or other networking sites. It doesn’t take too much time or effort to set up online video conferencing using your cell phone, night or day.
Record keeping is so much easier when computerized. You may want to have a membership application form and be able to quickly pull together a phone list that is up to date. Check out the Microsoft download site for templates at;
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=membership&av=TPL000.
One last suggestion would be to remember to back up all of your information on CD, DVD, Flash Drive or Portable Hard Drive, often. You wouldn’t want to lose all that hard work if your laptop is lost or your desktop crashes.

Computer Ease is a regular feature of the
RTO/ERO Renaissance.
Share your ideas with the author at: mail4wayne@cogeco.ca or http://rtocomputerease.blogspot.com/

2009-09-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

EBooks
Your book is now ready to be published. You can go the route of submitting it to publishers such as Random House, and in the process possibly rack up a number of rejections for a variety of reasons. To circumvent this situation, a number of authors are turning to publishing their work online as Online Publishing, EBooks or Publish On Demand.

There are a whole host of companies who will sell you a number of services. One very popular POD (publisher on demand) is Lulu, (www.lulu.com ). They offer a variety of services such as Publishing Packs. It would appear that if you want Lulu to take care of such things as ISNB numbers, Amazon distribution, copy rights, author support, custom covers, including a sample copy, etc. then their “Classic Pack” would cost you just under $1000.00 US. A bare bones publication package costs about $370.00 US dollars.

Now, you need to get printed copies. In addition to Lulu, there are many online printers that will print as many or few copies as you wish. Instant Publisher (www.instantpublisher.com), for example, will sell you 500 copies for just under $4000.00. Companies such as this specialize in small run printing. By the way, be sure to get a quote for shipping when you are thinking about an online printer.

EBooks are an option some people are looking at. The simplest way is to create a PDF copy of your book, put an excerpt on your website, (or make arrangements to have your book listed on a commercial site), include a picture of your book, and send the full pdf version to people when you receive payment. One difficulty with this is that multiple copies can be printed from your pdf version, which you would not have any control over. However, if the cost of publishing and distribution are issues, then this is the most economical route to go.

There are companies such as Amazon.com who do all the work for you. Pat Doyle has written a ‘how to’ for publishing with Amazon.com. http://www.patdoyle.com/publish-an-ebook-in-amazons-kindle-book-store/169/. With Amazon, they are pushing their new reader, Kindle and since many of the Kindle titles are $9.99, the author would receive 35% of that price.

Please keep in mind that there are many issues to consider when publishing. Receiving payment for books that are sold is one of them. Are you dealing with a reputable distributor? Do they have major advertising that you can be part of? Do they help protect the DRM (digital rights management) of your work? Finally, are there hidden costs?

An online search will bring forth a lot of ideas and support for writing, publishing either in paper or online, and distribution either electronically or physically. You can even get help from Microsoft Office. There are techniques for automatically producing a Table of Contents, and an Index. There is no time like the present to put your ideas to paper and have fun.

Computer Ease is a regular feature of the
RTO/ERO Renaissance.
Share your ideas with the author at: mail4wayne@cogeco.ca or http://rtocomputerease.blogspot.com/

2009-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Green Computing

It was estimated that over 500 million computers became obsolete last year, with many of them ending up in our landfills. These old computers contain hazardous materials which can leach into the ground and find their way into our water supplies. A better way begins with your decision to discard your aging computer.
Do you really need a new computer? Have you considered updating your current system? It is a myth that older computers consume more energy. It all depends on the configuration. Besides, updating is often less expensive than purchasing a new system.
The best advice I found while researching this article is to turn your computer off at night. You would be surprised how much electricity this saves.
If you have decided on getting a new computer, what will you do with the old one? Your first option to consider might be to donate your old computer. Jim Lynch of Tech Soup (www.techsoup.org) lists a number of tips for donating a computer.
First determine if your old computer can be reused. An older computer can be set up to entertain visiting grandchildren. This computer doesn’t need to be connected to the internet so you don’t have to worry about privacy issues. There are also software packages that will let you turn your old computer into a network storage system or file server. A Google search will locate many ‘how to’ articles on configuring a file server or network attached storage (NAS) system.
You could also use your old computer to learn a new operating system. There are many distributions of Linux that are free. Download one and install it on your old computer. There are tons of free ‘Open Source’ programs that you can add. Have fun.
If you have decided to recycle your old computer, look for a reliable recycler. RCT (Renewed Computer Technology), has 5 locations throughout Ontario that will take your old computer, refurbish it if possible and make it available to Non Profit organizations and students. Check them out at: http://www.rcto.ca/Default.aspx. For those of you in B.C., check out Free Geek (http://freegeekvancouver.org/). Both of these organizations will give you advice and instructions on donating. There are recyclers in most communities now. Check out their policies and procedures before committing to using their services.
There are some MUGs (Mac User Groups) that will take your old Mac computers and refurbish them. When you purchase a new Mac at a dealer, they will transfer your old files onto the new Mac and give you the opportunity to recycle your old system, no matter what brand. (http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ program/index.html).
There are many things to consider when donating your old computer for refurbishing or recycling. The most important thing is to make sure that ALL of your personal information and files are erased or cleaned from your hard drive. Most refurbishers have a policy printed on their web pages concerning this issue. It is important to check this out.
You may want to do some hard drive cleaning yourself. You can use a commercial cleaner such as WipeDrive selling for $40.00 US. There are also some free drive cleaning solutions such as Active@ Kill Disk HD Eraser, found at: (http://www.killdisk.com/). For the Mac, there is a built in utility found under “Security Options”, or you can use a program such as WipeDrive for Mac which also sells for $40.00 US. Check them out at http://www.whitecanyon.com/erase-hard-drive-mac.php.
It is important to mention that just reformatting your hard drive does not erase the information on that drive. You need to perform a disk cleaning action to make it difficult to access information on the drive. You can also go to a local professional to perform a hard drive cleaning for you. Please also remember to run a thorough virus scan.
When you donate or recycle your old system, remember to include any accessories that came with the computer. Gather up that extra keyboard and mouse, along with the original documentation and set up disks that were originally installed. Don’t forget the operating system. If you are donating your computer, you might also take the opportunity to clean out any older office suites, utilities or other programs that could be used with your donated computer. Non Profit agencies often need and appreciate all the help you can give them.