Tech: IT Easy - Media Brat! On Demand Entertainment Is Everywhere

I had a chat with my mom and she was telling me tales of coming home to gather in front of the radio to wait, yes wait, for a programme. I have vague memories of doing the same for TV when I was a child, but now, the whole concept of waiting for what I want to watch seems like ancient history to me.

I, like many of you, am spoilt. Instant soup. Instant coffee. Instant access to media and entertainment is not only possible, it verges on common. Don't believe me? Ok, let's look at the options.

Let's say there is an international movie or TV you like which airs at an inconvenient time. I guarantee it will re-broadcast at another time. Same is true for the wide range of local content increasingly being produced. To make local content even more accessible, a number of local programmes are also broadcast on sister stations.

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Tech Time: Extend Mobile Battery Life

Mobile phones are very useful tools, if they have power. With all the battery draining tasks our phones perform, it is no wonder we may find them drained when we most need them to perform. Here are a few simple tips to extend the life of a battery for maximum performance.

1. Switch off the vibrate feature. Unless it is absolutely necessary, ditch this feature and opt for the ringer instead. But, keep the ringer low and turn off keypad tones to squeeze every bit of juice your battery has to offer.
2. Adjust backlight settings. By default, your phone’s backlight will burn bright for a period of time after you are finished using it. Tweak your settings to reduce brightness and on time for a converse increase in battery life.
3. Avoid power-hogging features. Taking pictures with flash and internet browsing suck power without mercy from your phones battery pack, wait for the recharge before performing these functions.
4. Quit multitasking. The more the phone does, the more it eats the charge; close apps that may be running in the background to keep power available for your primary tasks.
5. Turn off wireless features. It may seem counter productive to have a mobile phone without wireless, but Bluetooth® and WiFi features are not necessary for making calls and therefore can be sacrificed to extend overall battery life. This also applies to data services over EDGE and 3G, stick to the bare bones GSM for power performance.
6. Charge phones regularly. It is no longer necessary to “condition” the battery or wait for the battery to be completely drained to recharge. Grab a charge when you can to keep your battery ready to perform.
7. Keep phone and battery cool. Keeping both the phone and battery within optimal temperatures, even while charging, will help the battery to last longer.
8. Replace your battery. This should be done every two to three years, because after this time even with the best care a standard battery will have issues keeping a charge.

If you find that even after following all of these tips, your phone battery dies within minutes after a full charge, contact a professional to seek out other hidden problems (and solutions).

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Tech Time: PC Back Up and Storage

With regular long term use, the performance of our PC’s tend to be adversely affected by “weight”, the “weight” of malware, adware, needless programmes, excessive files and other efficiency stealers. Yet, if we were to loose our PC data, it could be catastrophic. Here are some tips to clean up, maintain and backup on PC data.

Maintenance

1. Run Windows Update regularly. Better yet, set it to run automatically; for the casual user, this is the best ways to protect your PC from threats to loopholes in the OS
2. Run Disk Cleanup regularly. This handy tool will help to eliminate temporary files, unneeded cookies, recycle bin files and other non-critical computer files
3. Uninstall unused applications. There may be several programmes which you downloaded and installed to test, or stop using in favour of other programmes. Dump anything that you are not using and never will use again
4. Organise documents. The Download folder is a catch all for a lot of files that are no longer necessary or relevant. Further , their may be duplicates on your Desktop or in your My Documents folder. Take a moment to do a thorough cleaning
5. Remove malware, adware and spyware. These unwanted predators sap the speed from your PC and leave it vulnerable to attack
6. Run an anti-virus programme regularly. Even the most vigilant PC user may be infected with a virus, so a regular anti-virus regimen is crucial to PC health

In addition to the standard Windows utilities mentioned above, there are a number of programmes to assist with PC maintenance, including:

• CCleaner
• Microsoft Security Essentials
• Bitdefender
• AVG
• avast!
• McAfee
• Kapersky
• Norton

Be on the look out for fake anti-virus that look that the real thing, but are really malware in disguise. Only use trusted, high-rated anti-virus programmes.

Backup

Finally, once all your files are in order, it is time to set a restore point and run a backup. Windows has onboard facilities to accomplish these tasks. Just a few points to note:

1. Always make two backups on an external drive. The primary and secondary backup should not be at the same location and at least one must be offsite for maximum protection
2. Consider the level of backup you will need and choose the appropriate method; backing up just your data may be advisable if time and cost are a factor as opposed to a full system backup
3. The cloud now offers backup facilities

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Tech IT Easy: Microsoft monopoly makes a comeback?

Not that long ago, we were accusing Microsoft of being a monopoly. Almost every PC was running on Windows, Office was the suite of choice and Internet Explorer killed Netscape as the most popular browser. In short, Microsoft was everywhere.

Google took a different path, but the results are similar. Most us have a GMail address, many of us have used Google Docs, and Chrome is fast becoming the most popular browser. Google is now omni-present in our lives and despite my fears of one entity having access to almost all my information, I'd accept an Android phone in a minute!

I am told in the last three months, Android sales have superseded those of iPhones, BlackBerrys and Nokias, capturing a robust 17 per cent of the smartphone market; that's a lot of phones. Android phones are the hottest, most exciting smartphones on the market. That is, until this week.

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Send feedback to: techiteasy@carlettedeleon.com

Tech Time: Windows Phone 7

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