September 23, 2012

News Reader Apps make it easier to read news blogs websites on Google Android Smartphones Tablets

Reading websites on a Smartphone and smaller Tablet in portrait or even land scape mode can be uncomfortable because the font is too small, there are too many images, and your web browser is slow. You can subscribe to mobile newspapers and magazines, or buy them from an online store, but they can be kind of expensive, and limit you to one or a few devices like Android, iPad, iPhone, PC, Mac, compared to reading on a Newsreader app like Google Reader which is free, and allows you to read on any device which have is compatible with the Google Reader App, or any computer with an online internet connection, and a web browser like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox.

Google Android has a lot of free News RSS reading apps like Google Reader, Pulse, Feedly, and Flipbook which can be used to grab the articles from your favorite websites like Mashable, The Huffington Post, etc, and convert them to a readable article which has bigger font, and fewer un-needed images like the website header images, banners, etc, so it is fast.

Feedly is my favorite news reader apps because it is free, fast, and if you use Google Reader, you can sign into Google Reader, so you don't have to re-add your websites. I also like that it shows a thumbnail image of the story, so you can see what the story about instead of just reading a bunch of links with no images like Google Reader. I can also save stories to read later, and mark as read.

Feedly also rarely crashes, and seems to load a lot faster then other similar apps like Flipboard, Google Currents and Pulse  on my Kobo Vox Tablet with Google Gingerbread.



The user interface on Feedly is very simple compared to Flipboard, and Pulse News Reader Apps which both have more modern feels.



I also recommend Google Reader which you can download at the Google Play App Store because it loads fast, and is stable, but it is kind of boring because it is just white, and have no images on the stories listing. You can easily add new blogs and websites, and mark stories as read, or star them to read latter. Google Reader also have offline reading support which a lot of news readers do not have, so you can read articles from your favorite blogs and websites even without an internet connection.

Using a news reader app can also save you bandwidth/data because you do not have to visit a website, and download cookies, banners, the website template's HTML, images & CSS files javascript files with a newsreader apps. I also notice news reader apps tend to be faster then web browsers at loading articles since there is less to load, so you can also save time and battery life when using reader apps.

You can also save money if you use a Dataplan for your tablet or Smartphone to go online since you less data, so you would be less likely to go over your Data limit, or you can subscribe to a cheaper data plan since you are no longer using as much data since you are downloading fewer images, and other files found on a typical desktop and mobile website.

September 22, 2012

Using Brightness Apps in Google Android to save power/dim the screen.

Changing the Brightness in Google Android is not hard, but it can be somewhat inconvenient because you have to go into settings>Screen>brightness then slide your finger to change your brightness in older versions of Google Android like Gingerbread, Jellybean, etc/



 But, with a 3rd party Screen brightness App or Widget like Low Light, you can easily adjust the brightness of Android with a Tap, and a slide of a finger on your Brightness setting scroll bar.

Some Brightness Apps, can also make your screen more dim then the lowest setting in Android, so you can save a little bit of battery life, and make the screen less bright in low light conditions which can also make reading at night less bright on your eyes.

You can also easy make the screen more bright by pressing a button on the brightness app. Some Brightness apps and widgets also let you save pre-set brightnesses or auto brightnesses to make reading easier depending on light levels.

I like using a Brightness App/Widget on my Kobo Vox eReader Tablet which runs on Google Android Gingerbread since it makes it more convenient for me to change the brightness of the screen by tapping on an app or widget on my home screen to change the brightness of the screen depending on the light condition in my room.

If it is bright, I usually turn the brightness up to reduce the reflectiions of the screen, but if the light is dim in my room, I usually turn down the brightness to make it easier to read because the brightness of the screen is not glowing in front of my eyes, and to save battery life, so I can read or surf the web for a few extra minutes or hours.

Be careful not to set your brightness too low where you can't see the screen anymore if you do, you can restart your tablet or phone by pressing on the power button until it shutdown, and press the power button again to turn on your device, and hopefully, the brightness returns to normal.

Otherwise, you need to reset your phone and tablet by pressing the power and volume up button or other button combination at the same time during power on which will reinstall Google Android, and delete all your apps, and settings.

September 20, 2012

Turning off the power to chargers and devices with no OFF button

There are a lot of devices with no physical off button like Laptop, Cell phones, and Tablet chargers, routers, modems, hubs, switches, and the only way to turn them physically off is unplugging them from the wall's power outlet.

A lot of the time even when your devices like laptop, cell phones, and tablets are fully charged, the charger is still supply power to your devices to turn on a light to show it is fully charge, or keep the screen on to display a message that it is charge. There are some chargers which never turn off even when you unplug your cell phone, laptop, tablet, etc and is still using a small amount of power for no reason.

There are simple ways to turn it off without unplugging your power from the wall.



You can buy a surge protector with a timer like Titan Controls Apollo 14 - 8 Outlet Power Strip with Timer to automatically turn on and off your power outlets on the surge protector at specific times of the day which you set it to, so if it takes about 5 hours to charge all your devices, you can set the timer to turn off after 5 hours. A power bar with a timer is also good for plugging in your Cable or DSL modem, Hub, Switch, Router, Speakers, printer, stereo, and other electronics which you want to turn off when you go to work, sleep, school, and other times when you won't be using them to save electricity. Scheduling your electronics to not have power at specific times will save you power, and you also restart your electronics like routers, modems, and hubs which can make Wi-Fi wireless internet disconnection problems less common because Wi-Fi problems can be fixed with a simple restart.

You can also just use a standard surge protected power bar like Monster Cable MP AV600 Power Protector if you just want to turn off your electronics power manually by switching off the power on the power bar by manually hitting the power button on it instead of setting a timer to when you want your power on, and off.

If you just need to turn off one outlet's power there is the Belkin Conserve Power Switch which is a power adapter for your home power plug which adds an On/Off switch to it. The ON/Off switch is useful for turning on and off your router to restart it when you can't connect to your home's wireless internet because it got disconnected.

Belkin Conserve Socket with Energy Saving Outlet Surge protector can automatically turn off the power to your accessories/peripherals like monitor, speakers, printer, scanner, USB hubs, power adapters when your computer is shut down or hibernated, and when you turn your power back on for your computer, it will turn on your power for the other plugs which your accessories and peripherals are plugged into.

By turning off your electronics by cutting off power to the plug, you'll save money on your power bill because you would be using less power, you may prevent problems like disconnected Wi-Fi wireless internet because you would restarting your router more, and your electronics will be safe from power surges since they would be off, and protected from power surges when on since most timer power bars also have a surge protector built-in to it.

Your chargers, and power adapters also last longer since they won't be ON as much, and will be protected from power spikes/surges if you pick a power bar with surge protection built-in to it.

September 19, 2012

Protecting your laptop, smartphone, and Tablet chargers on the go with a portable surge protector

When you are using a power outlet which does not have a surge protector on it, your laptop, tablet, and smartphone power charger adapter, and the device will be damage by a power surge if a power surge strikes. Lightning, and a spike in voltage/electricity are examples of power surges which can damage your electronics and its parts like charger, CPU, RAM, resisters, etc.

A lot of times, when you use your laptop, smartphone, or tablet charger in public like in class, an airport, or your friends power outlet, the power outlet will not be protected from power surges because it does not have a surge protector protecting the power outlet from surges.

A surge protector is a plug, or power bar which you plug in between your power outlet, and your electronics to protect your electronics and PC from power surges.


There are portable surge protectors like Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger which will protect you from power surges when you plug them into the wall power outlet. It also gives you 3 power outlets, and 2 USB charger ports to power, and charge your electronics when you are on the go. It also has an indicator light to show you that your electronics are protected, and the power is on.

For less then 12 dollars, you can protect your expensive electronics from power surges when you are using power outlets without surge protectors.

You should use a surge protector to protect your PC, Laptop, Tablet, TV, Electronics, and Appliances from power surges which can fry your electronics and computers.

September 8, 2012

What to do before you fix your computer?

When fixing your computer, it is important to unplug it from the power, unplug all your external cables like USB, video, and sound, get your tools ready, and use Antistatic tools to prevent static.

Your computer has a lot of power in it, so even when it is off, it can still have power inside of it which can electrocute yourself when working inside your PC to fix it.Unplugging your computer from your wall power .

You should also unplug all your cables like USB, mouse, keyboard, sound, video, phone, network, and all other cables from the back of the computer to avoid damage to your computer parts or cables if you were to move the case of the PC, and cables, and to prevent power from your printer, monitor, and other external powered device from zapping you.



Next you want to get your computer tools like screw drivers, pliers, etc to open your PC case, and unscrew parts from your PC which needs to be replaced.

If your computer is very dirty inside, you may need to clean out the dust, dirt, and lint out first before you work on it. I recommend the Metro Vacuum ED500 DataVac 500-Watt 0.75-HP Electric Duster 120-Volt to easily and safely blow out the dust outside of your home.

It is also important to use Anti-static tools like an Anti-static wrist-strap to keep yourself grounded to prevent electrostatic discharge from shocking, and breaking your PC, or computer parts because static can break computer parts by zapping the microchips and silicon which is very sensitive to static.

September 1, 2012

What you can do to make Windows 7 or Vista Faster!



Making Windows Faster is not hard to do. You just need a little bit of time, and don't have to spend much money or any money in most cases since most of the software like disk cleanup, disk defrag, and msconfig startup manager comes bundled for free with Windows, and there are a lot of free and cheaply price third party software for making Windows faster which you can download in Windows.

If I'm using a old computer which was used by many people, I would scan it for Virus, spyware, and malware programs, since all these types of software can really slow down your computer since they make your computer unsafe while slowing it down because they run in the back ground of the computer. AVG, Avast, Microsoft Security Essentials are free antiviruses which you can use to scan your computer for viruses. Malwarbytes, SuperAntiSpyware, and Spybot are free antispyware programs which you can use to scan your hard drive for viruses.

Overtime when you use your computer, it is filled up with junk files, and your hard drive becomes fragmented. I recommend doing a disk cleanup, and disk defrag on Windows. CCleaner is a good disk cleanup program, and Auslogic disk defrag are great free software for maintaining your hard drive performance on a regular basis. CCleaner also has a program uninstaller, registry cleaner, and startup manager which you can use to improve the performance of Windows.

I recommend Advanced SystemCare with Antivirus 2013 to keep your computer fast and secure quickly, and easily!

Startup programs in my experience are one of the main reasons for slow computer startups since when computer programs start up they use RAM and CPU system resources which can be better use to run more important programs like your web browser, computer game, MS Word, etc rather then a instant messaging program which starts up automatically, but rarely uses.

Use msconfig in Windows to make Windows startup and perform faster