I wonder how many of these suggestions are practical for people 
with visual impairments.

Best, Peter

December 29, 2010

10 Ways to Get the Most Out of Technology

By SAM GROBART

Your gadgets and computers, your software and sites -- they are 
not working as well as they should.  You need to make some 
tweaks.

But the tech industry has given you the impression that making 
adjustments is difficult and time-consuming.  It is not.

And so below are 10 things to do to improve your technological 
life.  They are easy and (mostly) free.  Altogether, they should 
take about two hours; one involves calling your cable or phone 
company, so that figure is elastic.  If you do them, those two 
hours will pay off handsomely in both increased free time and 
diminished anxiety and frustration.  You can do it.

GET A SMARTPHONE Why: Because having immediate access to your 
e-mail, photos, calendars and address books, not to mention vast 
swaths of the Internet, makes life a little easier.

How: This does not have to be complicated.  Upgrade your phone 
with your existing carrier; later, when you are an advanced 
beginner, you can start weighing the pluses and minuses of your 
carrier versus another.  Using ATANDT? Get a refurbished iPhone 
3GS for $29.  Verizon? Depending on what's announced next week at 
the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, get its version of 
the iPhone, or a refurbished Droid Incredible for $100.  Sprint? 
Either the LG Optimus S or the Samsung Transform are decent 
Android phones that cost $50.  T-Mobile users can get the free LG 
Optimus T.

STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER Why: Because, while the latest 
version has some real improvements, Internet Explorer is large, 
bloated with features and an example of old-style Microsoft 
excess.

How: Switch to either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.  Both are 
first-rate, speedy browsers, and both are free.  It remains a 
tight race between the two, but Chrome has had the lead lately in 
features and performance.  Both browsers include useful things 
like bookmark syncing.  That means that your bookmarks folder 
will be the same on every computer using Chrome or Firefox, and 
will update if you change anything.

UPLOAD YOUR PHOTOS TO THE CLOUD Why: Because you'll be really 
sorry if an errant cup of coffee makes its way onto your PC, 
wiping away years of photographic memories.  Creating copies of 
your digital photos on an online service is a painless way to 
ensure they'll be around no matter what happens to your PC.  It 
is also an easy way to share the photos with friends and family.

How: There are many good, free choices.  To keep things simple, 
use Picasa, Google's service.  After your initial upload -- which 
may take a while, so set it up before you go to sleep -- you will 
have a full backup of your photo library.  And by inviting people 
to view it, privately, with passwords, you will not have to 
e-mail photos anymore.  Anytime you have new pictures, upload 
them to Picasa, send a message to your subscribers, and they can 
view your gallery at their leisure.

GET MUSIC OFF YOUR COMPUTER Why: Because music bought digitally 
wants to be freed, not imprisoned in your portable player or 
laptop.  It wants to be sent around the home, filling rooms like 
good old-fashioned hi-fi.

How: Using iTunes for your digital music? Buy Apple's Airport 
Express for $99 and connect it to your stereo.  When you play 
music on your computer, you can stream it to the Express and, 
therefore, your stereo's speakers.  Have an iPhone, iPod Touch or 
iPad? Download Apple's free Remote app and you will be able to 
control your music from anywhere in the house.

BACK UP YOUR DATA Why: Because photos are not the only important 
things on your computer.  With online backup services, you do not 
have to buy any equipment; you just install software, which sits 
on secure servers and runs in the background, regularly updating 
a mirror image of all your files while you spend time on more 
important things, like confirming that Ben Gazzara really was the 
bad guy in "Road House" (he was).

How: Go to sosbackupddcom.  Pay $80 a year.  Install the 
software.  Sleep easy.

SET UP A FREE FILE-SHARING SERVICE Why: Because while e-mailing 
yourself files is a perfectly decent workaround, there are 
easier, more elegant ways to move files around -- and they do not 
cost anything, either.

How: Go to dropboxddcom and set up a free account.  You will then 
get an icon that sits on your desktop.  Drag and drop files onto 
that icon, and they are immediately copied to the cloud.  The 
free account gives you up to two gigabytes of disk space; 50- and 
100-79712yte are also available, but they cost $10 or $20 a 
month.

Set up your account on all your other computers, and they all 
have the access to the same files.  You can set up shared, 
private and public folders, and apps for iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry 
and Android mean you can gain access to shared files from 
anywhere.

GET FREE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE Why: Because attacks on unwitting 
users are more widespread and tactics are growing more advanced.

How: Windows users should download Avast Free Antivirus.  Mac 
users can download iAntiVirus Free Edition.  Both applications 
will provide a basic level of security against a variety of 
so-called malware.  And they cost zero.

GET A BETTER DEAL FROM YOUR CABLE, PHONE AND INTERNET PROVIDER 
Why: Because it does not take much to get them to give you free 
(or cheaper) services.  These companies are generally indifferent 
to customer needs, but they are quick to cough up discounts -- if 
you ask.

How: Just call and ask -- they will probably give you something.  
Other tactics: Measure your Internet speed, using 
dslreportsddcomstspeedtest; if it is less than what you are 
paying for, ask for a free upgrade.  Or ask to speak to the 
cancellation department.  That usually scares them.

BUY A LOT OF CHARGING CABLES Why: Because you should never have a 
gadget's battery die on you, and they are cheap.  Smartphone 
user? Have a charging cable at the office, one in the car, and a 
couple at home.  Laptops? Have enough chargers in the house, so 
you are not tethered to the den when the power runs low.

How: eBay.  Search for what you need with terms like "original" 
or "oem" (original equipment manufacturer).  You will often see 
accessories for as little as one-tenth their normal retail price.  
Buy them by the gross.

CALIBRATE YOUR HDTV Why: Because that awesome 1080p plasma or LCD 
TV you bought has factory settings for color, brightness, 
contrast and so forth that are likely to be out of whack.  They 
need to be adjusted.

How: Order Spears and Munsil High Definition Benchmark: Blu-ray 
Edition, a DVD, for $25.  Its regimen of tests and patterns will 
help you adjust your TV's settings to more natural levels.  After 
you use it, you may want to fine-tune the TV some more, but you 
can do so knowing you are getting the most out of your display.


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