Posted in Deals by Rick Howington on January 3, 2010.
Have you got old gadgets? Need cash? Then try
gazelle.com!
So you can go green by having your devices recycled and get some green in return. Everybody wins
Gazelle pays cash for used electronics such as cell phones, laptops, digital cameras, and other stuff (except printers and Fax machines). Here’s how it works:
- Log on to the site (setting up an account is easy)
- Answer a few quick questions like does the device powers on, and if the battery works.
- Gazelle calculates an offer and if you accept, they will email you a shipping label.
I got offered $119 for a couple of old devices lying in the back of a closet. We’ll see what happens as I send this off this week.
Also, Gazelle can setup a website for schools and other groups to organize a gadget drive to raise money. Or you can use Gazelle to turn gadgets into donations for your favorite charity.
Granted, if you are well versed in eBay you may be able to get a few more bucks for your electro-junk. But let’s face it, eBay is not for everyone and as best I can tell, Gazelle makes the trade-in process relatively painless.
So start 2010 by recycling your old stuff and making a few dollars in the process.
As the new decade approaches everyone feels compelled to publish their top 10 lists of the past 10 years. I saw a list for the top 10 best beards of the decade. Seriously!
But I can’t resist jumping on the bandwagon. (I’ve always been a band-wagon jumper.)
However, instead of a top 10 list, I am going to post what I think was the most transformative technology event of the past decade.
Drum roll please…
My vote for the biggest thing in tech over the past 10 years is…
The Numa Numa Guy!
YEAH! CHEER!
Here he is!
Why, you ask? The Numa put the viral video on the virtual map. It came out in 2004 before YouTube. (YouTube came online in 2005.) So even without the power of YouTube, Gary Brolsma (aka The Numa Numa guy) became one of the best known unlikely Internet celebrities, and the envy of drag queens everywhere.
After overcoming some initial camera shyness from the instant fame, Gary has taken his rightful place in the WWW culture. He was voted the Number 1 Internet Icon by 40 Greatest Internet Superstars on VH1, featured on actual music videos (Weezer “Pork and Beans” video to name one), and has over 33 million views on youtube.com.
But most important, we have it on good authority that since uploading his now famous Numa Numa dance, Gary has indeed lost his virginity! And this underscores the real power of the Internet. Go Gary!
Need a break from the Holiday cheer? Checkout the “Everything is Terrible” website. http://www.everythingisterrible.com/
Where their motto is “If Everything is Terrible, then nothing is”.
This is a great collection of quirky and funny offbeat videos clips. What’s even funnier is that much of the EIT collection showcases stuff we use to think was cool!
Here’s one I like where Steve Allen tries to quell what I suppose was a rash of computer-phobia that must have been sweeping the nation.
Now, don’t you feel better about that PC that is staring back at you?
(BTW – who is that drag queen with Steve Allen?)
I gave my Biology Of Technology (BOT) blog a makeover. I recently was in a session with other business owners and we did a very constructive review of each other’s website. This change was a result of feedback from this meeting.
As we approach the end of the year and the decade, now is a great time to update your online persona. Click Here and drop me a line if you are interested in a makeover for your website, blog, or social networking.
If the “click” does not work, copy-and-paste the following linking into your browser. http://www.techadvocate-solutions.com/contactus.php
Posted in Internet by Rick Howington on December 12, 2009.
Your Facebook pictures and videos you thought that only your FB friends could see might be open to more people with the new FB privacy settings. A LOT MORE PEOPLE!
Recently all FB users upon logging in were re-directed to the new privacy screen. Most just accepted the defaults that were presented which looked something like this:
But Now the Warning You Were NOT Told.
If your privacy setting were such that you only share with friends, accepting these setting opens all your photos and videos to friends AND their friends. THIS WAS NOT THE OLD DEFAULT. What this means it that your friends AND all of their friends can now see your photos and videos EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND.
It’s like the movie “Death Becomes Her” when Meryl Steep’s character drinks the magic youth potion. After gulping it down she is THEN told, “And now a warning”. She promptly replies, “NOW, a warning!” Except FB didn’t even give you a warning.
Nightmare Scenario for the new default privacy
Suppose you had your FB profile set to only share with your friends. So you post pictures from Mardi Gras of you on Bourbon St scantily clad making-out with someone whose name to this day you can’t remember. Before the new privacy settings only you and your FB friends got a kick about this picture and probably wrote a lot of catty comments. Now all of their friends are getting a kick out your “gone wild” picture, too (along with the catty comments). THINK ABOUT IT!
Here’s The Fix
Here’s how to change your privacy setting so that only your friends can see your photos and videos.
Click Settings -> Privacy Settings:
Click Profile Information
Check the setting for Photos and Videos of Me. The new default is set for “Friends of Friends”, but THIS WAS NOT THE OLD DEFAULT.
You can change you setting back so that photos and videos can be seen by just your friends. While you’re there you should make sure your other privacy settings are to your liking and posting habits on FB.
FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg Got Caught with His FB Britches Down
Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know about this hole in the new FB privacy settings. Mark Zuckerberg, the young whiz kid who started Facebook, had a red-faced moment when he changed his FB profiles settings to the defaults for the new privacy settings.
Kashmir Hill, a blogger for True/Slant, first reported Zuckerberg’s new exposure, noting, “Either Mark Zuckerberg got a whole lot less private or Facebook’s CEO doesn’t understand the company’s new privacy settings.” Under the new privacy regime, user profiles are exposed to the web unless users are proactive about limiting access.
Hill reported that while Zuckerberg has in the past offered very limited access to his Facebook information, his profile is now “uber-public.” Hill reported: “I can see his wall, his photo albums, and his events calendar. Zuckerberg recently became a fan of Taylor Swift, uploaded graphic photos of The Great Goat Roast of 2009 three months ago, and plans to attend the Facebook holiday party on Friday night. I can even tell you where it’s going to be held.”
This is good time to be reminded of the one of the golden rules on the new online universe. If you don’t want everyone to know what you are doing then don’t post it on Facebook or Twitter! You know, those status postings are optional. Yeah, really. For example, suppose I have seen the Star Trek movie 14 times. (Did I just admit that?) If I don’t want my Facebook friends to kid me about being huge geek, then there is I should not post it.
And NEVER post pictures from Mardi Gras. Nothing good can come if it!
Stephen Colbert takes on Burger King, the Whopper, and the Windows 7 promotion in Japan. As he insinuates, what other BIG fast-food chain could support the MAC.
Posted in Biology by Rick Howington on November 27, 2009.
Everyone has at least one geek in their life. You know – the one you call when your PC does something weird. But what do you do to stop the guilt when you pick-up the phone to call your nerd buddy for tech support the next time you have a PC crash. Especially since you haven’t spoke to him or her since the last time your PC needed some tech TLC.
Here’s a solution to your dilemma – put your geek on your Holiday gift list.
But what do you get a geek for Christmas without making him feel like you got him something from the island of misfit toys?
Wetkeys.com - Washable keyboards and mice. Your key to good health.