There is an old saying information technology pros know well (remember when it was called data processing?), "We never have time to do it right, but we always seem to have time to do it twice."
The point of that saying is the truism that sometimes you have to go slow to go fast. Seriously. And that is never more true than when you are going too fast and are too busy to back up all your hard work.
Not a day goes by in the old Technology Center at the Troy Public Library when we aren't consoling some poor person who has just lost all their hard work due to going too fast. I'm not even talking about backing data up here, just simply saving it. I often walk around the room and notice people who've worked for hours on a document and they haven't even saved it yet! This is a disaster waiting to happen. Remember, save your documents early and often.
And speaking of backing up files, this is another area we often see tragic consequences. These days it's so easy to simply copy your important files to a flash drive or burn to a CD that there is really no excuse to lose your data to a catastrophic system failure. And believe me, it happens more than people like to think. It's not if the system crashes, but when. Save, save, save.
October 11, 2008
October 9, 2008
Is Wireless Oakland Back On-line?
Wireless Oakland – the ambitious plan to blanket Oakland County with free wireless Internet access – may be revived, according to a recent article in the Detroit News.
The project was first rolled out in March 2005, when the County partnered with Michtel – a private company – and selected seven pilot areas in Troy, Royal Oak, Pontiac, Birmingham, Madison Heights, Oak Park, and Wixom.
The County and cities gave Michtel access to utility poles, buildings, and radio towers on which to install access points. In exchange, the company would provide free wireless Internet access to anyone in those areas at a speed that was somewhere between dial up and broadband. If an individual wanted a faster connection, he or she could purchase that from the company.
After the pilot areas were completed, the plan was to gradually increase the wireless areas until the entire County was covered.
From the start, financial problems and delays plagued the project. Eventually, Michtel set up the pilot areas. But in June of this year, the project ran out of money and the plan was put on hold.
Now, according to the company, there might be enough interest from private investors to start Wireless Oakland back up by December.
We’ll see.
The idea of turning entire cities and counties into wireless hotspots, in order to provide a basic level of Internet access for everyone. has been big for the past several years. In addition to Oakland County, Macomb and Washtenaw have explored the possibility. Neither has progressed much.
Across the country, the situation is much the same. In cities like San Francisco, similar plans have been scrapped. Depending on the private sector for such a project hasn't panned out, and most municipalities have been reluctant to recognize the value of providing free public-sponsored wi-fi for their residents.
Unfortunately, the idea that one day soon we would be able to travel across large sections of the States and always be in a free wi-fi hotspot has faded.
To keep up on municipal wireless plans and news, check out MuniWireless.
The project was first rolled out in March 2005, when the County partnered with Michtel – a private company – and selected seven pilot areas in Troy, Royal Oak, Pontiac, Birmingham, Madison Heights, Oak Park, and Wixom.
The County and cities gave Michtel access to utility poles, buildings, and radio towers on which to install access points. In exchange, the company would provide free wireless Internet access to anyone in those areas at a speed that was somewhere between dial up and broadband. If an individual wanted a faster connection, he or she could purchase that from the company.
After the pilot areas were completed, the plan was to gradually increase the wireless areas until the entire County was covered.
From the start, financial problems and delays plagued the project. Eventually, Michtel set up the pilot areas. But in June of this year, the project ran out of money and the plan was put on hold.
Now, according to the company, there might be enough interest from private investors to start Wireless Oakland back up by December.
We’ll see.
The idea of turning entire cities and counties into wireless hotspots, in order to provide a basic level of Internet access for everyone. has been big for the past several years. In addition to Oakland County, Macomb and Washtenaw have explored the possibility. Neither has progressed much.
Across the country, the situation is much the same. In cities like San Francisco, similar plans have been scrapped. Depending on the private sector for such a project hasn't panned out, and most municipalities have been reluctant to recognize the value of providing free public-sponsored wi-fi for their residents.
Unfortunately, the idea that one day soon we would be able to travel across large sections of the States and always be in a free wi-fi hotspot has faded.
To keep up on municipal wireless plans and news, check out MuniWireless.
October 8, 2008
Making the Change to Feedburner
We are pleased to report that we have just moved The Tech Desk to Feedburner, which will allow us to more easily distribute our blog through RSS feeds.
Here's how this change will improve The Tech Desk:
If you are an RSS subscriber you will need to switch over to our new feed located at the follow link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheTechDesk
If you have any questions about the changeover, feel free to leave a comment and ask!
Here's how this change will improve The Tech Desk:
- Feedburner will allow us to track how many people are reading our blog through RSS feeds.
- Along with knowing how many subscribers we have, we will also be able to see which posts are getting the most reads, and in which subjects you are most interested.
- Our blog feed will now have a del.icio.us link at the bottom of each post, which means you will be able to add quickly your favorite post to this social bookmarking site.
- Finally, both our Atom and RSS feeds will link back to the same SmartFeed provided by Feedburner.
If you are an RSS subscriber you will need to switch over to our new feed located at the follow link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheTechDesk
If you have any questions about the changeover, feel free to leave a comment and ask!
October 6, 2008
Voting in Oakland County? This One's For You
Voting in Oakland County this November?
If so, the League of Women Voters Oakland Area has just released its on-line Voters' Guide for the November 2008 General Election. The Guide provides non-partisan information about candidates for offices at the City, School District, Township, County, State and Federal levels.
This year, the League has partnered with the Oakland County Bar Association and the Detroit Free Press to provide additional information on judicial races in the County. Ballot proposals also appear in the Guide where appropriate.
For the Guide, each candidate is given an opportunity to provide biographical information and to answer a number of questions on issues important to the office being sought. Responses are included as submitted and have not been edited, except for necessary cutting when replies exceeded the stated word limitations. If the candidate did not reply, the words "Did not reply in time for inclusion" appear after the candidate's name.
If you vote in Oakland County, check out the League's Guide. It will make you a more informed voter.
If so, the League of Women Voters Oakland Area has just released its on-line Voters' Guide for the November 2008 General Election. The Guide provides non-partisan information about candidates for offices at the City, School District, Township, County, State and Federal levels.
This year, the League has partnered with the Oakland County Bar Association and the Detroit Free Press to provide additional information on judicial races in the County. Ballot proposals also appear in the Guide where appropriate.
For the Guide, each candidate is given an opportunity to provide biographical information and to answer a number of questions on issues important to the office being sought. Responses are included as submitted and have not been edited, except for necessary cutting when replies exceeded the stated word limitations. If the candidate did not reply, the words "Did not reply in time for inclusion" appear after the candidate's name.
If you vote in Oakland County, check out the League's Guide. It will make you a more informed voter.
October 5, 2008
Web 2.0 Never Tasted So Good
For many years, we've saved our favorite websites by adding them to our "favorites" or "bookmarks" in the web browser of our choice (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Safari, etc.). The major shortfall of this method is that our favorite websites are tied to one person, one computer, one browser.
What happens when you want to look up one of your bookmarked sites from another computer? Or when you want to share them with your friends? What happens when you have so many bookmarked websites that you can't remember where you saved them in the first place?
You sign up for a free del.icio.us account.
The social bookmarking site del.icio.us offers a better way to save your favorite websites for sharing and future use. Del.icio.us users save their favorite websites, organize them in a more efficient fashion, and share them easily with others. Now, doesn't that sound simply delicious?
To use del.icio.us, you need to first create a free account. Second, download software to add del.icio.us buttons to your web browser. Finally, you can import your old bookmarks into your new del.icio.us account.
These steps are quick and easy -- the website walks new users through the process step-by-step. From then on, every time you visit a website you enjoy, you can add that site to your del.icio.us bookmarks with the click of a button. Then, you can access these favorites from any computer, any place, using any browser.
Another fabulous feature of del.icio.us is that you can tag your bookmarks with keywords. This makes for better organization of your bookmarks so you can find them in a snap.
You can also put the social in social bookmarking, by sharing easily your favorites with others. For instance, to see what the librarians at Troy are enjoying, visit http://delicious.com/TPLbookmarks . You can also see which websites are most popularly saved by other del.icio.us users here: http://delicious.com/popular/ .
Happy browsing!
What happens when you want to look up one of your bookmarked sites from another computer? Or when you want to share them with your friends? What happens when you have so many bookmarked websites that you can't remember where you saved them in the first place?
You sign up for a free del.icio.us account.
The social bookmarking site del.icio.us offers a better way to save your favorite websites for sharing and future use. Del.icio.us users save their favorite websites, organize them in a more efficient fashion, and share them easily with others. Now, doesn't that sound simply delicious?
To use del.icio.us, you need to first create a free account. Second, download software to add del.icio.us buttons to your web browser. Finally, you can import your old bookmarks into your new del.icio.us account.
These steps are quick and easy -- the website walks new users through the process step-by-step. From then on, every time you visit a website you enjoy, you can add that site to your del.icio.us bookmarks with the click of a button. Then, you can access these favorites from any computer, any place, using any browser.
Another fabulous feature of del.icio.us is that you can tag your bookmarks with keywords. This makes for better organization of your bookmarks so you can find them in a snap.
You can also put the social in social bookmarking, by sharing easily your favorites with others. For instance, to see what the librarians at Troy are enjoying, visit http://delicious.com/TPLbookmarks . You can also see which websites are most popularly saved by other del.icio.us users here: http://delicious.com/popular/ .
Happy browsing!
October 3, 2008
Fun Friday: Vintage Ads
It's Friday. Time to have fun.
Here's a post of vintage magazine advertisements that I find pretty cool. I found this on the social bookmarking site, del.icio.us.
Though the subject isn't strictly technology, we couldn't be sharing this without the Internet.
For my money, you can't beat the Burroughs' Angry Young Computer, or Dobbs' hats. Although, Detroit's automobile ads make some great honorable mentions.
Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
Here's a post of vintage magazine advertisements that I find pretty cool. I found this on the social bookmarking site, del.icio.us.
Though the subject isn't strictly technology, we couldn't be sharing this without the Internet.
For my money, you can't beat the Burroughs' Angry Young Computer, or Dobbs' hats. Although, Detroit's automobile ads make some great honorable mentions.
Which is your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
October 2, 2008
If You Aren't Registered, You Can't Vote
Google has just launched its U.S. Voter Information Map, which allows you to type in your address and find registration, absentee and other voting information for your state, and a map of your area,
As part of its promotion, Google has also released this excellent public service announcement video. [click and scroll down]
Voter registration deadlines vary from state to state — in Michigan, it is October 6. If you haven't already done so, stop what you are doing, and type your address into the Voter Information Map to find out how to register. Then do so.
[Thanks to Lifehacker for this information.]
As part of its promotion, Google has also released this excellent public service announcement video. [click and scroll down]
Voter registration deadlines vary from state to state — in Michigan, it is October 6. If you haven't already done so, stop what you are doing, and type your address into the Voter Information Map to find out how to register. Then do so.
[Thanks to Lifehacker for this information.]
Adding Your Document Name in Microsoft Word
It is very easy to display the document name in the footer of a Word document.
On the Insert tab, click on Footer, then click on Edit Footer.
A new Header & Footer tab will appear on the ribbon. In the Insert group, click on Quick Parts, then click on Field.
On the Insert tab, click on Footer, then click on Edit Footer.
A new Header & Footer tab will appear on the ribbon. In the Insert group, click on Quick Parts, then click on Field.
Scroll down in the Field Names box and select FileName. You also have the option to select the Field Properties (ie, case) of the File Name and, whether you want the path of the document to be displayed (by checking Add path to file name.)
For example, with path selected the document would be displayed as C:\Documents and Settings\techroom\Document1.doc in the footer.
For example, with path selected the document would be displayed as C:\Documents and Settings\techroom\Document1.doc in the footer.
You can also add the document name to the Header if you prefer. Follow the same procedure, except click on Header instead of Footer in the Insert tab.
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