Most people think about security cameras and security systems when considering the value and security of their place of business. But what about your home? Even if you live in a safe area, you’re not immune from the risk of vandalism, theft or a break-in. Protect your family and all of your household goods by installing a security system that includes home security cameras. Even if you still suffer from a break-in, the recorded event can be used to track down and prosecute the criminal(s)!
About a year back our local doctor’s office implemented the ability to view your records online, request appointments, and even email your doctor. It’s been quite handy for viewing results from labs — no more inconvenient phone calls and trips to the doctor’s office hoping that things will be ready. But at the same time, it kind of sucks for the people who wear a lab coat to work every day, because it means that you can always bug them, heh.
A printer is a must-have in our household. Between paying bills online, doing online shopping, writing letters, printing things out for our kids, etc., not a week goes by that we’re not printing something. I recently upgraded from a six year old refurbished printer to a brand new HP Photosmart e-All-in-One D110 Printer. It’s pretty snazzy, and for $89 I couldn’t pass it over. However, it’s so new that Windows 7 does not have any pre-configured drivers for it. So I was stuck with two options: not use the printer, or use it by installing HP’s included software, which is approximately 57MB of bloatware and unnecessary crap (for me, anyway).
Luckily, there’s a third option: allow Windows 7 to install the printer, and then point it to the software installation CD to grab the necessary drivers. To do this with the HP Photosmart e-All-in-One D110 Printer or any printer, complete the following steps:
1. Go to Start > Devices and Printers
2. Select Add a Printer
3. Choose Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer
4. When your printer appears in the list, highlight it and click next
5. When Windows prompts you to select your printer’s manufacturer from the list, choose the Have Disk option
6. Browse to your software installation CD and select the first .INF file that comes up — this will more likely than not be the necessary driver(s) for your printer!
7. Enjoy!
Last night I logged into my GoDaddy account and attempted to modify one of my domain’s custom nameservers, only to be greeted with the following message:
You cannot change the selected domain because it is not in an active status.
Come again? The domain is clearly active; in fact, I just renewed it last week. So after getting the message a few times and not having any success with editing or deleting the existing custom nameservers in order to add my own, I called up GoDaddy. The man I spoke with, Bryce I believe his name was, was SUPER awesome and SUPER helpful. He got his supervisor involved when he himself couldn’t get the custom nameservers to update or purge, and then got the advanced tech guys involved. As it turns out, the “You cannot change the selected domain because it is not in an active status.” message was a fluke, a weird issue with GoDaddy, as a quick “rebuild”, whatever that is, took care of the problem, and I was back in business. Yay! Thanks GoDaddy!
Last March, my husband treated himself to a T-Mobile myTouch 3G. In July, I upgraded from my myTouch 3G to a myTouch 3G Slide — same phone, essentially, but with a newer version of Android (2.1) as well as a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Between then and now, neither of us have gotten any phone updates. Then, out of nowhere, BAM, my husband’s phone gets the upgrade for Android 2.2 Froyo. What the hell? Where is my Froyo? I don’t even care about the wifi calling or better battery life. I just want the ability to install and run apps on my SD card, because as it stands I only have about 10MB of free space left, so every time I use my phone Android freaks out and bugs me about the lack of internal space, in between the force closes and crashes. Grrr.
My computer desk also doubles as a nightstand of sorts, since it’s next to my bed and there isn’t enough room in our bedroom for both pieces of furniture. I like having a small lamp to use for later at night when I want to read or when I simply don’t want the glare of the ceiling fan’s lighting. I also like having a lamp on my desk for work purposes, as most people do. But when I set out to find a lamp for my desk, I never dreamed I’d find one that offers an organizer and an electrical outlet. But that’s exactly what the Mainstays Desk Lamp with Organizer Base and Outlet offers! The gooseneck lamp is handy for having just the right amount of light for reading, writing or working aimed where I need it most; the electrical outlet makes it convenient for me to charge my cellphone, and the organizer (that rotates around the base) keeps a few pens, chap stick, sticky notes and my iPod Touch (it fits into on of the larger slots) close at hand! This is a very cute lamp and definitely worth the trip to Walmart and $14!
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Back in the fall I won an iPod Touch in an online Twitter giveaway (why yes, I am that awesome at times!). I instantly fell in love with it, especially because it was twice the size of my old iPod and thus offered me plenty of space for all of my songs, and then some! After a few weeks of using it, one hassle I ran into was finding somewhere to plug in its USB charging cord. It didn’t fit in my old iPod’s dock, since the dock was designed for the original iPod (oh yes, I’ve had an iPod for quite a few years!). Around that time we got a new television for our living room, and moved the old one, a 32″ LCD, into the bedroom, which meant we didn’t need the old 27″ CRT, nor the little stereo system we had with it for the additional speakers. Suddenly I had no way to listen to music late at night or while falling asleep, at least not without headphones.
Then I spotted the Audiovox iPod Clock Radio at Target, and I fell in love. Is this alarm clock cute or what? It offers dual alarms, a radio, and the ability to listen to your iPod (and charge it at the same time!) or stereo system for as long as you want, or for a certain amount of time (sleep timer). When not in use, the dock on the top of the clock makes the perfect charging/holding station for my iPod Touch. Best of all? This sweet little clock was only $29.99!
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Back in November I went to a local hair stylist for a hair cut. I had a specific style in mind, thanks to inspiration from a friend’s Facebook photo. I forgot to print that photo to bring along, but of course I had my cell phone, and it was a simple matter to access my friend’s Facebook profile and then her photos right from my phone (quick shoutout to Android! ♥). But then there came the style itself… I didn’t realize, at the time, that I would need a hair straightener to accomplish the look. Fortunately, the stylist had several straighteners to choose from, including several from ghd, and there was a sale as well, so I came home with two of them for less than $75.
It’s now going on six weeks later, and I definitely need to go back to get my hair trimmed if I want to keep that style. Don’t get me wrong, it still looks great, and those hair straighteners work perfectly, but I’m not sure if I want to keep the style, or grow my hair a bit longer again. Pros and cons, you know? I guess since the weather is cold, which means wearing my hair down is no big deal, I’ll stick with the shorter style. Come hot weather, I’ll want my hair to be longer so it’ll be easier to manage in a ponytail!
The beauty of the internet and technology as it stands is that even here in my own home there are many ways I can make a purchase. We have two desktops, two laptops and a netbook. Then there’s my Android phone and my husband’s Android phone. There’s my iPod Touch, and even my Barnes & Noble Nook, which has a bare-bones browser included that would no doubt allow me to navigate to a website to make a purchase. In fact, I’ve already used my Android phone to buy a product from eBay and pay for it with PayPal, and I’ve used my Nook to purchase a book (Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, heh). It’s quite nice to shop for mens jewelry, something as specific as mens wedding bands, and be able to actually purchase it from wherever I may be — my desk, the bed, even the bathroom or from the front seat of my car!
If you know someone that works in the medical field, a great gift idea would be a lab coat! Lab coats never go out of style, and more importantly they’re always in demand. Lab coats are available for men and women at Medelita.com, and with so many styles available, you’ll be sure to find something that is perfect for the medical professional in your life.
Hi! I'm Jenn, aka Tech Girl. I'm practically chained to my computer, and I love all things technology. I may not be an expert, but I certainly have interesting posts and tidbits of info to share! Psst... you can find my personal blog at 