Monthly Archives April 2012

Google Drive joins the battle of the cloud

Google Drive joins the battle of the cloud

April 28, 2012 | Comments Off on Google Drive joins the battle of the cloud

Forecast: Cloudy and getting cloudier every day.
Google entered the cluttered online storage wars this past week when they launched their own service called Google Drive.  Even though it looks suspiciously like DropBox, it is tied into the huge Kingdom of Google, including Google Docs which may give it the edge it needs to become a player in this busy field.  Psssst.  Take advantage of all the free storage being offered right now.  Eventually we will get back to paying through the nose for it; “remember unlimited” data? …


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Russia Hackers Rake In $4.5 Billion In 2011

Russia Hackers Rake In $4.5 Billion In 2011

April 28, 2012 | Comments Off on Russia Hackers Rake In $4.5 Billion In 2011

If you ever wondered why these low lifes keep filling your mailbox with spam, here is the answer: Money and lots of it.  Read the full story in the Michigan Tech News. …


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Podcast, April 28, 2012: Seeing through Braille Note

Podcast, April 28, 2012: Seeing through Braille Note

April 28, 2012 | Comments Off on Podcast, April 28, 2012: Seeing through Braille Note

Show Notes:

For years radio has been the window on the world for the blind and visually impaired and WJR has been a special friend to many of them.  The first hour of our show this week is dedicated to those listeners.  We hope you will listen in and learn about the amazing things that visually challenged people are doing online thanks to technology.

For Ted Lennox blindness is no more a disability than having grey hair ; it’s just part of his life circumstances. During his career as a high school teacher, Ted taught hundreds of young people how to turn visual challenges into triumphs.  He has also been on of our most frequent visitors on the Internet Advisor during the last 15 years.
In this show Ted introduces us to BrailleNote Apex BT 18 Braille Notetaker, a remarkable device that allows the blind to surf the web as well as any sighted person.  Joining Ted for the program are:

  • Jerry Weichbrodt, GM test track engineer
  • Keithetta Hicks: 16 in 10th grade at Osborn High, Detroit
  • Jeff Humphrey: 18 in 11th grade at Fitzgerald High in Warren.

John Whitacre explains training opportunities for the visually impaired through i-Challenged…


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Three Ways to Research Your Family Tree

Three Ways to Research Your Family Tree

April 21, 2012 | Comments Off on Three Ways to Research Your Family Tree

The do-it-yourself approach to getting the lowdown on your ancestors may lead you down a series of blind alleys. An alternative to the high-end genealogical resources offered by Ancestry.com is the personal and affordable services of a mom-and-pop operation.

by Dennis O’Reilly

The April 2, 2012, release by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration of the 1940 U.S. census data has genealogists all aquiver. If you were hoping to plumb the records for details on your family, keep in mind that the initial release of the data will be a challenge to search.

Related stories

As the National Archives’ 1940 census FAQ indicates, until professional and amateur genealogists have indexed the names and other data collected by that census, the only way to find specific entries will be by the “enumeration district” where a given person lived at the time.

The National Archives offers tips for researching the census data, but what if you don’t know much about your family’s past?

Anyone who has dug into …


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How to Recycle Your Household Electronics in Michigan

How to Recycle Your Household Electronics in Michigan

April 21, 2012 | Comments Off on How to Recycle Your Household Electronics in Michigan

Personal media players and data assistants, laptops, notebooks, computers, televisions, cell phones and the list goes on and on.  These wonders of modern technology are filling our lives and our garbage cans. Many of these products are still usable; others have reached the end of their useful lives.  All have components that may be reusable, recyclable or a concern if released to the environment.
  • Televisions and computer equipment
  • Cell Phones
  • Other Resources

What can you do with your unwanted television or computer equipment?

If you have unwanted computer equipment, you may want to make sure that there is no confidential information on it before it leaves your hands. See the U.S. EPA fact sheet, “Do the PC Thing” to find free and low cost software to wipe data off your electronics.

Although it is still legal for households to throw their old electronics in the trash, several landfills are no longer accepting certain electronics such as older televisions and computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes (CRTs). More and more communities, manufacturers and retailers are sponsoring takeback programs. Many are free. To find out if there is a community collection program available, contact your local recycling or household

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Podcast April 21, 2012: Climbing Your Family Tree

Podcast April 21, 2012: Climbing Your Family Tree

April 20, 2012 | Comments Off on Podcast April 21, 2012: Climbing Your Family Tree

Show Notes:

  • The Art of Climbing Your Family Tree: My AncesStory.com Bill O’Reilly and Becky Layne O’Reilly combine over 50 years of experience in genealogy – the science of discovering and creating family trees plus the facts and stories behind them. For more information on finding your family history call Bill and Becky at 313-820-9072

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Facebook Gobbles Up Instagram

Facebook Gobbles Up Instagram

April 14, 2012 | Comments Off on Facebook Gobbles Up Instagram

by Emily on April 14, 2012 in Getting Familiar , Our Blog

By Emily A. Hay, Founder, Hay There Social Media

Written for the Internet Advisor Show on WJR 760AM.  Check out the social media toolkit and links to podcasts .

We’ve learned that Facebook has acquired Instagram for a “modest” $1billion, pretty much the dream scenario of any tech start-up.  This acquisition shows how a good idea combined with the right timing can be a winner for the entrepreneurs and end-users alike.  Instagram has millions of its own users and Facebook recognized that Instagram enhances the experience on their social network particularly via mobile.

In today’s post, we’ll cover:

  • What Instagram is
  • Why people love it and how business owners can use it
  • Why this makes sense for Facebook
  • What’s next

What is Instagram:

It’s a free app that offers fast, beautiful photo-sharing.  It allows users to snap a photo, add a filter to transform the photo (you can make it black and white, or “blurry” to look vintage/“artsy”, and many more), then post to Instagram.  From there, the photo can be shared to other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

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Kapersky to the Rescue for Macs

Kapersky to the Rescue for Macs

April 13, 2012 | Comments Off on Kapersky to the Rescue for Macs

Don’t know whether your Mac has been hit by the latest piece of malware called the Flashback Trojan and wouldn’t know what to do if you did?  Try using the Kapersky Flashfake Tool.This premier security company is offering both a tool to check and see if your precious Apple is poisoned and if it is, a simple tool to make it all better. …


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Podcast April 14, 2012: Cloud Computing, Midwest Tech Leaders and Rick Broida

Podcast April 14, 2012: Cloud Computing, Midwest Tech Leaders and Rick Broida

April 13, 2012 | Comments Off on Podcast April 14, 2012: Cloud Computing, Midwest Tech Leaders and Rick Broida

Show Notes:

8th Annual Midwest Technology Leaders Symposium: Tracy Ann and Rob Palmer, President of Arizka will share highlights of this gathering of the best and the brightest in IT May 3rd at the St. John Conference Center in Plymouth.

Cloud Computing: MS Krishnan, Joseph Handleman Professor of Information Systems and Innovation at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (co-author of The New Age of Innovation) and Mike Klein, COO of Online Tech will share the mike with Gary Baker to preview the presentation thatthe three of them will make on “Cloud Computing: Approach Innovatively and Understand Trends” at the Ross School of Business Alumni Club meeting April 19 at Online Tech in Ann Arbor.

Rick Broida CNET Cheapskate Blog, Why I’m Returning My iPad for a Kindle Fire. Why would any sane techno geek turn in an iPad for a Kindle Fire?  Tune in and find out.

Michigan Talk Radio Network listeners, you can send us your questions through Contact Us form on the homepage or in our Forums which are open 24/7 for your questions.

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How to Check and Disinfect Your Mac

How to Check and Disinfect Your Mac

April 7, 2012 | Comments Off on How to Check and Disinfect Your Mac

The first really nasty Trojan to hits Macs slithered onto 600,000 Apple computers worldwide.  F-Secure, a world leader in security, has posted a way to check and see if your Mac is infected and if so how to clean it up.

Please note that this is meant for experienced users and needs to be done carefully.  Earlier this week Apple released a security update for all Macs. Please check to see that you have that update.

If you prefer, you can download and print the instructions here.

Disinfection

Manual Removal

Caution: Manual disinfection is a risky process; it is recommended only for advanced users. Otherwise, please seek professional technical assistance. F-Secure customers may also contact our Support.

 

Manual Removal Instructions

  • 1. Run the following command in Terminal:defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment
  • 2. Take note of the value, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
  • 3. Proceed to step 8 if you got the following error message:”The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist”
  • 4. Otherwise, run the following command in Terminal:grep -a -o ‘__ldpath__[ -~]*’ %path_obtained_in_step2%
  • 5. Take note of the value after “__ldpath__”
  • 6. Run the following commands in Terminal (first make sure there is only one entry, from step 2):sudo defaults delete
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