Clear your mind, and your pockets!

Do you have sticky notes everywhere? Bits of paper by the phone, notes cluttering your desk? A long shopping list in your purse? A pocket calendar wherever you go? How about business cards cluttering up your wallet? Lists of telephone numbers?

Have you ever thought about a PDA? Oh NO! Not me! I don't need one of those fancy things! I am no high powered executive! I don't have lots of meetings to attend! I don't need to check my emails on the run! No?

But what about that grocery list in your purse? Those pieces of paper with your kid's addresses and phone numbers. That sports schedule?

PDA's are NOT just for high powered executives. They are for everyone! Mom's keeping soccer schedules, dentist appointments, grocery lists, and emergency contact information at their fingertips. Grandparents who don't want to sift through a pile of letters and notes to find that bit of information that they "KNOW they wrote down just yesterday."

PDA's can hold so many many things for the average person. PDA's provide the ability to keep a calendar, and to give you audible reminders (like the alarm on your watch) when it's time to do everything from watch your favorite TV show to taking your medication to picking up your family at the airport. They allow you to setup a phone and address list-

Let's just say you are at your sister Judy's house one Afternoon:

Judy: You know, I don't believe that I have Michael's new mailing address? I really wanted to send him this funny birthday card I bought and I just keep forgetting to ask you for his address. Do you know what it is offhand? I really should get this in the mail before tomorrow, or he won't get it in time.

You: Um... you know I have it somewhere... at home. How about I call you tomorrow morning and give it to you (you write yourself a note, reminding yourself to find the note that has your son Michael's address, and then to call Judy in the morning. The note goes into your purse with all your receipts, your grocery list, and all your other notes.)

Let's just say that you have a PDA. You are at Judy's house and when she asks for Michael's address, you reach into your purse and pull out your PDA, open your address book, and read her Michael's new address, phone number, AND email address. Wasn't that efficient? How much time and stress have you saved yourself by having that information at your fingertips? How relieved would Judy be?

PDA's allow you to keep and quickly update a complete contact list. As a matter of fact, you could have given her Michael's work mailing address, his fax number, his office suite number, his direct line, AND his company title if you had wanted to. Not to mention the birth dates of all Michael's children and his wife name, their anniversary, and her cell phone number. All of that information, literally at your fingertips.

My PDA balances my checkbook. I have purchased an inexpensive PDA version of Quicken, called Pocket Quicken. I can enter checks, debits, deposits, and all types of transactions in the PDA, and I can categorize them and Quicken will keep a running balance on my PDA that can by synced to the Quicken program on my home computer. Now when I get done with a big trip to the mall, and to get groceries, and I stop by McDonald's for a cheeseburger meal and the gas station to fill up on the way home, I can spend a few minutes in the restaurant or in the car in th parking lot, and grab all 6 or 8 receipts from my purse, and enter those debit card transactions into my PDA, and Quicken will tell me exactly how much money I have left to spend (if any!) and will categorize all my spending to be synced at home when I am ready. No more calculator, checking register, or purse/wallet full of receipts.

Next time you are at a doctor's office or a meeting and you need to schedule a follow-up appointment, you can open your PDA, check your calendar, find a clear spot on your schedule, and enter the appointment right there. No more lost appointment cards or over scheduling.

PDA's have a built in calculator (why carry one of those in your purse too?) and even fun features like games. You can even turn the sound off and play bejeweled while you wait to have your teeth cleaned!

Create lists! To do lists, Gift Idea Lists, GROCERY LISTS! You can check items off as you put them in your cart! You can check off to do list items as you complete them.

I purchased my PDA for less than $75 on eBay, used. It came with the box, the software, the paperwork, cords to connect to my computer, and a wall charger. I was able to buy an extra cradle (for sync to my computer) and a hard case for less than $15 on ebay. You don't have to pay a lot to own a PDA and you don't have to feel like you are wasting your money to try something new.

Let a PDA clear up your clutter, your purse/wallet, and your mind. Toss out all those paper notes and keep everything clear, concise, and up to date.

If you decide to get high tech, you can purchase cards that will give you internet access ANWHERE, download programs like Adobe reader that allow you to view entire books on your PDA, or accessories like foldable keyboards and wireless LAN Adapters to connect to wireless networks. The possibilities are endless and PDA's can expand to handle whatever it is you need.

Scared of Vista? Get Ready for "Vienna" in 2009

Need some weekend reading? Check out the IT News headlines for today!

• iPod integration in the automobile market
• Windows "Vienna" slated for debut in 2009
• Windows Vista "Premium" Home - 70% of US Sales last week
• 12 New Security Patches coming Tuesday Feb 13th from Microsoft
  

File Extensions and File Associations

Computer Files have varying file extensions. File Extensions can be hidden or shown, depending on your settings. An example of a file extension? Have you ever heard of a "jpg" or a "rtf" file? jpg (or jpeg) files are image files, and rtf (Rich Text Format) files are text documents that can be read by most word processors, including word, works, and word pad. A file name followed by a .doc extension is USUALLY a Microsoft Word Document. A gif document (Graphics Interchange Format) is an image file that can show transperency.

Each document or file has a file extension. If you have a word document, and you save it as "Christmas Card Addresses", your full filename, including the file extension, would be:

• Christmas Card Addresses.doc

Many programs, including word, allow you to save files in several different formats. If you use Adobe Phoshop, and create a logo or graphic, you could save it as a Photoshop Document, which supports layers and has a psd extension. Or you could save it as a jpg, gif, tiff, or png format, or one of about 14 other file extensions.

A File extension always follows the document name, after a period.

How about file associations? It's best to understand file extensions before you ask about file associations. A file association is the method that Microsoft Windows Operating Systems use to determine what program will open what type of file extension. If you have Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, you may have it set as your default viewer for jpg and gif (image files.) Windows looks at your file extension and then matches it up to the appropriate program.

Let's talk about an example of file association, in the Simplest of terms. An HTML document contains text and code that makes up a webpage. When viewing a webpage, you can use any variety of programs, called "Web Browsers." Web Browser examples: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Netscape, and Opera. Each of these programs interprets or reads the code and displays it in the webpage format that we have grown so fond of.

Sometimes when you open a program, like Internet Explorer, it may give you a message (see below) stating "Internet Explorer is not currently your default browser. Would you like to make it your default browser?"
If you answer YES to this question, windows automatically sets the program Internet Explorer as the program that opens HTML files. That is how IE becomes your default browser. If Mozilla asks you the same questions, and you answer yes, Windows will set Mozilla Firefox as the default program to open HTML Files.

This is all just a "file association," associating the file extension HTML to the program Internet Explorer. When you install Microsoft Office, it automatically associates the "doc" extension to the program Microsoft Word. It associates the "xls" extension to Microsoft Excel, and the "eml" extension (email document) is often associated with Microsoft Outlook, if not when installed, when Outlook is opened for the first time. You will be asked "Do you want to make Microsoft Outlook your default email client?" and if you answer yes, the file association "magically" takes place. This is how, when you click on an email address on the web, Windows automatically knows to open Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, to start a new email message. All of this is determined by file association.

Some of you may have experienced problems, like we discussed in our meeting in February, with files opening with a program that you don't WANT them to open with. There are many ways to change file associations, or to work around the problem, and I will share with you the two simplest ways.

1. Right click on the file that you want to open. Choose "Open With" and then "Choose Program." This will pop open a new window, from which you can choose the program you wish this file to open. If you want this to be a permenant change, you can check the box that says "always use the selected program to open this kind of file" and it will change the file association for you.
2. Open the PROGRAM first, then do a file/open and browse for the file. This is a one time work-around and will not change the file association, but will open the file in the program you chose.

There is another method to go directly to your file associations and change them. Older versions of windows (Windows NT, ME, 98, 95, and older) contained a file called "win file.exe"
Which is a file extension/association manager. I do not recommend that just anyone go into winfile.exe and monkey around, but if you have more advanced computer skills, google winfile.exe or read more about Winfile at Wikipedia.

Be My Valentine

Looking for a fabulous gift for your valentine? Here are a few clever suggestions.

• Chocolate Computer Mouse
• Chocolate "Any Key"

Short But Sweet

February's meeting was short but sweet. Attendance was low due to the weather, and Dorene received several calls and told people not to make a point to attend if they had far to travel. Those of us in attendance answered a few computer questions, and did some gossiping about the East Peoria Festival of Lights, which several of us attended this Holiday season. Although it may not SEEM computer related, the light show begins with a parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving, in which more than 40 lighted structures are taken through the streets. The structures, and many other lighted decorations are then placed in VFW Park, where visitors can drive through the park for as little as $5 per carload. Many of the light displays are very detailed and run by computers.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 6th, and a presentation on Windows Vista is scheduled.