Extended Warranties

Computer Care: Think twice before buying extra warranty

By Arthur Glazer
glazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: October 25, 2013 6:27 p.m.

	When you buy your next electronic gadget during the next few months, whether for yourself or a gift, chances are the salesperson will ask if you want to add an extended warranty to the purchase. You’re under pressure to decide in a few seconds whether or not to spend about 15 percent of the device’s value to protect it. I almost always decline these offers.

Aside from the one time when my laptop had keyboard failure, I’ve never had to take advantage of the extended warranty, so I stopped buying them. The fact is, most things that will happen to a device will happen to it quickly and the repairs will be covered by the store’s or manufacturer’s warranty.

If the price is cheap enough — and often it is enticing — I will buy protection for a laptop only. I frequently carry my laptop with me when I travel and when I go on jobs, so the chance of it being bumped, dropped or otherwise damaged is great.

When you do feel it necessary to get the extra insurance, you need to inquire if it is a no-fault warranty. Would your purchase be covered if you dropped it or if your puppy chewed through the power cord?

Then you need to determine if you need to pack it up and send to a repair center or will you be provided with an RMA number and box to ship it in. Also inquire how long you would be without your device. Would you get a loaner in the interim (probably not) or would they come to you to make repairs?

You’ve got to (quickly) decide if what you are about to purchase is worth the extra expense of an additional warranty. What is the product worth; what could go wrong with it; what would repairs cost?

In rare cases the cost of the warranty is worth it, but there are caveats. If a persistent problem arises, the device will be replaced by the store or manufacturer.

Most consumers don’t know that when you send your covered computer in for repairs, you will get it back fixed but with your hard drive wiped clean. The way they fix software and operating system issues is simply to reinstall Windows. By doing that, all of your documents, photos, videos, music, spreadsheets and other data are deleted, not to mention all of your installed programs, printer driver and network and system settings. You will basically be starting from scratch, like the day you bought the computer.

Sometimes even if you send it in for a hardware issue, you may discover a wiped hard drive upon its return. That’s just the way they do things in the corporate repair world.

Many consumers also fail to realize if a premium credit card is used to purchase an appliance, it would be cover from Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Many of their high-end Gold and Platinum cards do cover purchases. So buying an extended warranty would just be redundant and a waste of money.

Motherboards and video display can fail, sure. But most times that would happen during the first few weeks or months, not a year later. They fail when old, but what doesn’t? So excepting the purchase of laptops, I’d save my money. If you could almost replace your device (tablet) for the cost of a warranty, get a new one instead.

Of all the computers I have repaired, only a handful required a motherboard replacement, and they were old XP machines. Hard drives fail, but at least they are relatively inexpensive.

Often you will spend about the same or less for repairs on your device instead of getting that warranty. Consider the time you will be without that laptop; often a couple of weeks. With a local repair, it might only be a day or two.

I save clients’ data whenever possible, but most times repairs done under warranty work will simply replace the drive, tossing all your stuff with it. So even with that warranty, there are instances when getting it fixed locally may prove better for you.

Just remember, should something go awry with your covered device, for the first week or two, the store would be responsible for it. They will at most times replace a defective unit. After that, it falls under the manufacturer’s warranty, which would cover anywhere from a year to two years.

 Should something happen to your device after that, then the extended warranty would kick in if you had one.

So even if you did purchase an extra insurance policy on your computer (or laptop, tablet, phone, Blu-ray, etc), if it fails during the first year, it could be covered by a warranty other than the extended one. Also consider saving the money the warranty would cost and put it toward repairs or even replacing the device altogether.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Controlling Spam

Computer Care: Filtering out your electronic junk mail

By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com
POSTED: October 11, 2013 10:42 p.m.

Every afternoon when my mail gets delivered, I can’t help but notice how few junk letters I receive. I get a couple of bills, a magazine, the occasional package and maybe a solicitation from a local business or two. That’s it. A few years ago I got piles of paper every day. The bulk of junk mail today is sent electronically.

So now it’s my spam box that fills up daily. I can get 40 to 60 junk emails each day, but they go directly into my spam box. Without the defenses I have installed, there could be much more, demanding more of my attention each day.

There are various ways to cut down on your spam in your email inbox. It’s best to use filters, an email service or client that helps filter spam for you, and to use different accounts for different purposes.

Let’s start with the last one first. Your email address is precious. You shouldn’t give it out to anyone who asks. We all sign up for things: newsletters, sales flyers, sweepstakes and other things we come across online. The trick is to not use your real or your primary email address account for these purposes.

Create a throw-away or disposable email account that you only use for sign-ups, not for correspondences. An alternative to this is to use free websites that create these for you. Check outmailinator.com, guerrillamail.com, spamex.com or maildrop.cc (yes, cc).

There are others and most of these are free, but all will only keep your messages temporarily.

Some will retain them for a while — some a few hours, others only a few minutes — so be sure to check your accounts quickly for the response you may need.

On these sites, you create a temporary email address with the site’s domain and use that instead of your own for sign-ups.

You can also use your current email service to create a second or dummy account. If you use a Web-based email like Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, just make another account the way you made your real one. Just don’t use it for email. Instead of you@gmail.com, make secondary account like you.temp@gmail.com.

Some domains (I also use Earthlink and Charter) will allow you to set up filters to help block your spam. You can block by keyword, content, name or domain. The last is what I commonly use. When I keep getting spam from joe@junk.com, then, bob@junk.com, and info@junk.com, I just block the domain.

They all come into my Gmail inbox, and it has its own set of filters. If you use Gmail, click on the “Settings” link on the right side of the page when you’re logged in, then click on “Filters.” From there you can control what comes in. You can also create your own filter with your own personalized rules.

Should something slip through, there is a button to click when spam finds its way to your inbox. It will allow you to report the message as spam and block it and also allow you to unsubscribe to the message (if it has a legitimate unsubscribe link).

Be aware, too, that when you do sign up for things that you want (using your primary account), uncheck the box that gives permission to send future emails about sales, events, etc.

There are also spam-fighting products you can purchase to install on your computer. Some of the better ones include SpamFighter Pro, Mailwasher Pro, iHateSpam and Spam Catcher. Each works differently and some are for email clients (like Outlook), others are designed for Web-based email (like att.net), while there are some will work on all systems.

Many anti-virus or anti-malware products come with add-ons for spam reduction. Contact the manufacturer of your product to see what they may offer.

If you are an AOL user, your spam filter is turned on by default. To configure it, click on “Options,” then “Settings,” just below your user name on the upper right of the screen. Click on “Spam Settings” and then find the drop-down menu next to “Spam Filter” and adjust it to your liking.

Go to the “Sender Filter” option if you need to block specific people from reaching your inbox.

You should not respond to any solicitations you get via email. When you do, the sender then knows it is a live account and will send yet more junk email.

By no means respond to emails that appear vague or suspicious in the subject line. Some may offer you money or jobs. Others may say something like, “RE: About your email,” trying to lure you into opening and responding to it. Do not.

Before trashing the contents of my spam folder, I always give it a quick look, just in case something ended up there that should have gone to my inbox. It’s a computer; it makes mistakes.

If you keep your primary email address private, use filters and aliases and don’t respond to vague solicitations, you can reduce the amount of junk mail that reaches your inbox.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

	POSTED: October 11, 2013 10:42 p.m. Every afternoon when my mail gets delivered, I can’t help but notice how few junk letters I receive. I get a couple of bills, a magazine, the occasional package and maybe a solicitation from a local business or two. That’s it. A few years ago I got piles of paper every day. The bulk of junk mail today is sent electronically. So now it’s my spam box that fills up daily. I can get 40 to 60 junk emails each day, but they go directly into my spam box. Without the defenses I have installed, there could be much more, demanding more of my attention each day. There are various ways to cut down on your spam in your email inbox. It’s best to use filters, an email service or client that helps filter spam for you, and to use different accounts for different purposes. Let’s start with the last one first. Your email address is precious. You shouldn’t give it out to anyone who asks. We all sign up for things: newsletters, sales flyers, sweepstakes and other things we come across online. The trick is to not use your real or your primary email address account for these purposes. Create a throw-away or disposable email account that you only use for sign-ups, not for correspondences. An alternative to this is to use free websites that create these for you. Check outmailinator.com, guerrillamail.com, spamex.com or maildrop.cc (yes, cc). There are others and most of these are free, but all will only keep your messages temporarily. Some will retain them for a while — some a few hours, others only a few minutes — so be sure to check your accounts quickly for the response you may need. On these sites, you create a temporary email address with the site’s domain and use that instead of your own for sign-ups. You can also use your current email service to create a second or dummy account. If you use a Web-based email like Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, just make another account the way you made your real one. Just don’t use it for email. Instead of you@gmail.com, make secondary account like you.temp@gmail.com. Some domains (I also use Earthlink and Charter) will allow you to set up filters to help block your spam. You can block by keyword, content, name or domain. The last is what I commonly use. When I keep getting spam from joe@junk.com, then, bob@junk.com, and info@junk.com, I just block the domain. They all come into my Gmail inbox, and it has its own set of filters. If you use Gmail, click on the “Settings” link on the right side of the page when you’re logged in, then click on “Filters.” From there you can control what comes in. You can also create your own filter with your own personalized rules. Should something slip through, there is a button to click when spam finds its way to your inbox. It will allow you to report the message as spam and block it and also allow you to unsubscribe to the message (if it has a legitimate unsubscribe link). Be aware, too, that when you do sign up for things that you want (using your primary account), uncheck the box that gives permission to send future emails about sales, events, etc. There are also spam-fighting products you can purchase to install on your computer. Some of the better ones include SpamFighter Pro, Mailwasher Pro, iHateSpam and Spam Catcher. Each works differently and some are for email clients (like Outlook), others are designed for Web-based email (like att.net), while there are some will work on all systems. Many anti-virus or anti-malware products come with add-ons for spam reduction. Contact the manufacturer of your product to see what they may offer. If you are an AOL user, your spam filter is turned on by default. To configure it, click on “Options,” then “Settings,” just below your user name on the upper right of the screen. Click on “Spam Settings” and then find the drop-down menu next to “Spam Filter” and adjust it to your liking. Go to the “Sender Filter” option if you need to block specific people from reaching your inbox. You should not respond to any solicitations you get via email. When you do, the sender then knows it is a live account and will send yet more junk email. By no means respond to emails that appear vague or suspicious in the subject line. Some may offer you money or jobs. Others may say something like, “RE: About your email,” trying to lure you into opening and responding to it. Do not. Before trashing the contents of my spam folder, I always give it a quick look, just in case something ended up there that should have gone to my inbox. It’s a computer; it makes mistakes. If you keep your primary email address private, use filters and aliases and don’t respond to vague solicitations, you can reduce the amount of junk mail that reaches your inbox.

	POSTED: October 11, 2013 10:42 p.m. October 11, 2013 10:42 p.m.

WirelessComputing

Computer Care: It’s a wireless world, and soon we’ll all be connected

By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: September 27, 2013 6:01 p.m.

Back in the day, if you wanted Internet access, you needed an Ethernet connection; you were tethered to a cable. Then came wireless Internet or Wi-Fi. It’s also called WLAN or Wireless LAN, which is Wireless Local Area Network. The technical term for it is 802.11, which is the set of standards for wireless in the 2.4-5 GHz frequency bands.

We’ve gone from 802.11a to b to g, then to n and more recently to the newly developed 802.11ac speeds. You will soon be seeing equipment with that standard on it.

Just when you think you’ve got the latest technology, something better and faster comes along.

As opposed to connecting your smartphone via a 3G or 4G cell tower, Wi-Fi connects to a computer via an access point, or a router. It’s usually the less expensive connection option with your laptop, tablet or cellphone. If you have access to Wi-Fi, choose it over 3G or 4G to save your data and money.

Wi-Fi is now much more widespread than it used to be. It’s not just free at coffee houses, airports and hotels anymore, either. Whole offices are wireless. Some municipalities are offering free Wi-Fi in their downtown areas or parks.

Santa Clara, Calif., has about 19 square miles of public Wi-Fi for its residents and San Jose’s covers 1.5 miles of its downtown area. San Francisco is working on its version with Google.

Amherst, Mass., has free service in its downtown area as does El Paso, Texas, and Denver, Colo., and some others.

But currently, there are many more European and Asian cities with free municipal Wi-Fi than in the United states, although we are working on it.

Bologna and Milan in Italy offers free hot spots around the city and Dublin, Ireland, offers the same. Bangkok, Thailand, has free wireless service, as does Taipei, Taiwan, Guadalajara, Mexico, and Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand, at select places.

In Paris, the parks and libraries have free Wi-Fi. In Zrenjanin, Serbia, it’s free in the city center, and in Vatra Dornei, Romania, 85 percent of the city is covered with free Wi-Fi.

The list goes on: Heraklion, Greece; Geneva, Switzerland; Luxembourg; Bangalore, India; Montreal and Toronto, Canada; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Not only is Wi-Fi free in these places and dozens more like them, but they have faster access speeds than we do here.

The new 802.11ac standard will make it easier for more cities to accomplish this task in the near future.

With the proliferation of Wi-Fi and number of devices that use it ever increasing, there is a demand for increased performance. The best 802.11n devices top out at 450 megabits per second at close range, with declining performance as the range increases.

In contrast, the new 802.11ac standard can achieve more than three times that performance with speeds up to 1.35 gigabits per second. The new 802.11ac standard has the capability to maintain a higher level of performance at any range.

There will be eight times more channels than with previous standards and we can expect less interference from devices such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, Bluetooth gadgets or metal studded walls.

We may be about to catch up with the rest of the world as far as wireless Internet access is concerned. Not only are U.S. subscribers cutting the cord to their land line phones, but to their wired Internet service as well.

Web connections on the now ubiquitous smartphones, laptops, tablets, televisions and gaming devices make the demand for greater access and faster speeds. 802.11ac should provide for that.

According to consumer surveys by Leichtman Research Group Inc., hundreds of thousands of Americans canceled their home Internet service last year, relying instead on wireless access.

Those people are taking advantage of the growing abundance of Wi-Fi hot spots around the country with their portable wireless devices. The new standard will allow even more users access to the fast new wireless networks as access rates improve.

So be prepared to get a new router soon if you do a lot of streaming with your wireless devices.

Next time you find yourself at a public park or downtown, who knows — you may be able to watch a movie, or at least freely check your Facebook or email accounts.

I know I’ll be watching more Netflix on my tablet than NBC on my television. I will finally be able to listen to Pandora more freely.

Not being a 3G or 4G subscriber on my cellphone, the proliferation of faster free wireless will be music to my ears — literally.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Repair or Replace your PC?

Computer Care: Knowing when to fix, when to replace

	By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: September 6, 2013 9:48 p.m The last three computers I worked on all needed to be retired, replaced or used for target practice. There comes a time when it’s simply no longer cost-effective to keep your old XP relic running, no matter how much you like it. I have an XP machine in my lab that I use solely for research while working on other computers. It has its issues, but serves its purpose. But it is not my main computer and should it fail, I have others. One decade-old computer I recently worked on had a failing hard drive, was in need of additional RAM and had an inoperable optical drive. Could I have repaired it? Sure, but the cost would have been close to that of a new computer with a faster processor, lots more RAM, a huge, new hard drive and a warranty. In a couple of hours I could have had it running like new, but for $200 more than my fee, an inexpensive replacement could be had. If you only require a memory upgrade though, by all means go for it. An additional gigabyte or two won’t cost much and you’ll really see the difference from 512 MB of RAM to 2 GB. Browsing within your computer and across the web will both be much faster. If you have enough memory already, but your hard drive fails, it is probably worth replacing the drive. You will need to have a Windows installation CD though. You can copy your data, but the Windows will need to be reinstalled on that new hard drive. Keep in mind your programs will need reinstalling as well. Your photos and documents can be transferred, but the programs that created them and the operating system cannot. Be advised to back up your files regularly. It may be too late by the time you think of it. Once a hard drive fails, there is precious little time to extract data from it. The easiest way is to either use an online service such as Mozy or Carbonite, or get an external USB hard drive for storage. Redundancy is good for important files. Make more than one copy if you value your data. DVDs can get scratched and hard drives can fail, so spread your data around on various mediums. More than once I’ve had to reinstall my printer driver and software. I’d attempt to print something and Windows would advise me that I had no printer installed. Go figure. There was nothing else wrong with my computer, just no printer anymore. All printer manufacturers offer free driver downloads from their websites. It’s a simple, yet annoying fix for a printerless system. If your computer beeps more than once when it boots up, it’s telling you something is wrong. Most times it’s a memory error. Modules go bad or work their way loose. Desktop batteries also die. That’s another inexpensive, yet annoying fix, not worth trashing your computer over. Many clients have advised me that if I couldn’t speed up their system, they would throw out their computer and get new a one. To make a computer faster is not too much trouble nor much cost, either. It’s all know-how and labor. There are no parts to replace. If all that’s wrong with your computer is its speed, there is no reason to replace it. A robust tune-up will suffice. More than a virus, malware can bring your computer to its knees, making it crawl. Use of a proper utility or an occasional tune up will eradicate malware infections and help keep your system up to speed. One of the biggest malware scams is the registry cleaner. You see a pop-up advising you to click somewhere to fix your system’s registry. The key here is that without running a scan, there is no way for a program to know there are errors in the registry or anywhere else. Also keep in mind that many pop-ups say that Windows has discovered registry errors. Windows will never tell you that. It’s just not part of its job, not yet anyway. This is not to say that cleaning your registry won’t help your system; it will. You need to have installed a bonafide registry utility of your choice, though. Don’t pick one that mysteriously appears on your computer’s desktop. Some are real; others are not. Keep your computer healthy. Run virus and malware scans, clean temporary and history files and keep the registry and file system clean. An occasional defragmentation will help, as will updating your system drivers when necessary. But if you have multiple hardware failures on a computer that is older than your dog, it’s time to replace. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Photography Tips

Computer Care: Tips for the best summer snapshots

By Arthur Glazer glazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: August 23, 2013 9:04 p.m. This summer I spent more time with my camera than my computer. As a camp photographer up in the mountains of White County, I shot more than 20,000 photos. To make them look good, I had to edit them quickly and judiciously -- good enough for parental scrutiny. Although the dog days of summer are behind us, Labor Day is just around the corner and chances are you still have some pictures to take. I’ve seen more poor quality images posted to Facebook recently; some were dark, some washed out, some simply blurry or in need of cropping. Even with the ubiquitous cellphone camera, quality photos can be created with little effort. The primary thing to consider when taking pictures is where your light is. Ideally, you don’t want to shoot into the sun, but rather have it over your shoulder. Even if you’re outdoors, don’t be afraid to use a flash. It will remove facial shadows and brighten up your pictures. Keep in mind though, the pop-up flash on cameras will reach only about 6 feet before its light dissipates. In order to get the most from the light that is available, your camera will read it with a meter. In DSLRs, most point-and-shoots and many cellphone cams, you control the meter. Usually, if you place the crosshairs in your viewfinder on the face of your subject and press the shutter release button half-way down, you not only place your subject in focus, but take a reading of the light on them as well. The thing is to hold onto that meter reading. Readjust your view to take the photo without releasing pressure on that button. Otherwise your pals will be in shadows, all blurry with the lake behind them sharply illuminated. After you get that reading, continue to frame your image, then finish pressing the shutter release button. When composing a picture, look at it as if it were a print. Be critical. Are there trees or poles coming out of your subjects’ heads? Are they in the light? Are there extraneous objects in the photos, like people or vehicles? It’s always a good idea to take a few extra shots to ensure one will come out. Some may be too dark or light; others may have someone not smiling or their eyes closed. There were close to a thousand shots at camp I didn’t use. Edit out the bad shots on the fly, before you get home. This will cut down the editing process. Just about every shot needs some editing, whether it be cropping out extra sky or people, or adding contrast or light to the image. However you alter it, the paramount rule of editing is not to save over the original photo. If you are working on photo 123.jpg, rename the edited image as 123a.jpg and save it in your docs or photo folder as opposed to the card it came from. This way, should you inadvertently ruin a picture, you will always have the original to try it again. Photoshop is the granddaddy of photo editors, but there are many good free editors online. GIMP is an open-source image editor. It is the closest thing you can get to Photoshop without paying anything. There’s a learning curve, but it’s free. Find it at www.gimp.org. Easier to use and free, are IrfanView, at www.irfanview.com and PhoXo at www.phoxo.com. Both will provide the basics of adjusting light and contrast with crop tools and more. Without loading an app to your computer, you can use online editors, like FotoFlexer found atwww.fotoflexer.com and Pixlr, at www. pixlr.com. They save you the trouble of an installation. Experiment with being creative with your photography. Try the different modes your camera has to offer. They change the exposure settings so you don’t have to. Most have a panoramic mode, one for sports and another for portraits. Looks at the icons on your camera’s mode dial or display and you’ll figure it out. If you want to experiment with manual settings, just remember the F-stop (aperture opening) works in direct relation to the shutter speed. If you raise one, lower the other. You’ll get basically the same picture with a little different results. Although the same amount of light comes through, a faster speed freezes action better and a smaller aperture yields a greater depth of field (more things in focus). Want create the effect of motion? Try panning your subject. If you have a moving subject like a car, a runner or bike rider, move you camera with it as you shoot the picture. Your subject will be in focus with a blurred background, looking as if he/she is really moving. Try it a few times and you’ll easily perfect this technique. So if you still have pictures to take this weekend or haven’t really done anything with images from the Fourth of July yet, now you can get busy with the knowledge of how to shoot better photos and how to fix those that didn’t come out as you’d expected.  Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Hi-tech Gadgets

Computer Care: Plenty of gadgets for Dad to marvel at for Father’s Day

By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com


POSTED: June 15, 2013 12:07 a.m.

My dad was into gadgets. He liked to be on the cutting edge of electronics. OK, this was the late 1960s so nothing was really small or cheap yet. But when pocket calculators initially arrived on the market, they were about three-quarters of an inch thick and about the size of a cellphone.

So what, you say. But they also cost more than $100 each. My brothers and I each got one that year from our dad and it was just after I learned to work a slide rule. Anybody out there remember those?

If my dad were around today, he would marvel at the gadgets we have available. Father’s Day would be easy for me. I’d make sure he had a cool smartphone, a tablet computer, a GPS for the car, an electronic tire gauge and the brightest LED flashlight I could find on Amazon.

But he’s been gone for a while now, so I must buy these toys for myself (or suggest to my girls that dad could never have too many gadgets).

When I get emails from stores like newegg.com, tigerdirect.com or thinkgeek.com, I stop and browse their wares, thinking how much my dad would have enjoyed all of today’s technology.

Some are absolutely useful, while others — perhaps not so much.

Fans of the “Doctor Who” sci-fi TV series may be familiar with the Tardis and the Doctor’s special pen. Well, you can get these online now. The pen may not open locked doors or shoot a laser, but they make cool noises and flash multiple colored lights.

For the computer geek dad, there are endless USB gadgets that plug into laptops, from lights and fans to mini-refrigerators and coffee cup warmers. What dad wouldn’t appreciate one of those?

Everyone talks about pen drives. I bought a pen that unscrews to reveal a 4 GB flash drive. Now that’s something I use.

How about a pizza cutter looks like the Starship enterprise or a multi-tool that folds to fit on a key ring? Now these are both cool and practical.

I love flashlights. Aside from the indestructible ones that I use to peek inside computers (see gorillagadgets.com), I also carry a one watt, one cell (AAA) minilight that fits in my shirt pocket and is incredibly bright. I never leave home without it. Really. (See cyberguys.com)

I just ordered a portable water filter from beprepared.com that is the size of a straw from a Big Gulp. They have some really cool things on their site for the outdoors type as well as survivalist.

For clever, useful items all under $10, check out tmart.com. I got a couple of lithium ion batteries and a charger there for my high-end LED flashlight. It was a no-name battery, half the price of brand names, but ended up working just great.

If you’re into solar power for your lights and gadgets, check out sheepleg.com for a large variety of alternative energy products. They also carry camping and outdoor items.

Coolest-gadgets.com carries tech products for your Apple device, PC (USB), games and kitchen as well as solar powered toys, spy tech, home theater and wearable technology. It’s worth a browse.

If you want to see if there is a coupon to save you a buck or two at your online store, try looking at retailmenot.com, couponcactus.com or coupons.com/coupon-codes. Between them, they have hundreds of coupon codes to shop with online.

Don’t get frustrated or give up if you get a few dead ones. Some may be expired, but lots of them do work and will save you money.

Many online retailers that are covered include Amazon, Best Buy, Sears, Macy’s, Wal-Mart and Target, among others.

Did I mention that I love Amazon? They sell everything; plus shipping is free if you have their Prime membership and stuff arrives quickly. Should something happen and you have an issue, Amazon stands behind what is sold on their site. I’ve never had a problem with them that wasn’t resolved quickly.

So if you still haven’t gotten your dad something for tomorrow, get him a gadget. So what if it arrives a few days late. Get him a card in the interim. Even if he can’t really use that gadget, he’ll still appreciate it.

In 10 years, you’ll both look back and have a laugh at the what was today’s hi-tech toys. Compared to the holographic portable communicators we’ll probably have by then, a USB-powered refrigerator may not sound that great in comparison.

But since we can’t beam ourselves to where we want to go or Skype in 3D, I think a cool beverage device next to your dad’s computer may still suffice.

I know my dad would have been glad to get one.

Happy Father’s Day!

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Printer Support

Computer Care: If your printer needs attention, be careful with the ink

By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com
POSTED: May 31, 2013 10:46 p.m.

Every few weeks I hear a panicky plea from across the house, “Honey, the printer’s not working.” So I bellow back, “ Did you try rebooting the computer?”

After a few minutes I usually hear a sheepish, “Never mind.”

But this morning, that fix-all failed to rectify the situation. It often heals many computer ailments and does it quickly. However, this time I actually had to perform minor supplementary surgery on our HP printer.

We had a paper jam, which often is not a big deal. I learned early on not to extract the sheet of paper in question from the front of the machine. I ruined a perfectly good and relatively new printer by trying to force a piece of paper out backward from the feeder tray. I won’t do that again.

Most, if not all printers have an escape hatch on the rear of the machine. Some pull straight out, others have clips or dials. Whichever yours has, my suggestion is to learn how to remove it when you (or your spouse) are not in panic mode.

When there is an actual paper jam, your printer will advise you of the situation. Open the back door and s-l-o-w-l-y pull the sheet out, trying not to rip it.

If it does come out in pieces, use a can of compressed air to blow the remnants out from both sides of the feed. Hold the can upright to avoid the liquid (cold) propellant from getting on your printer components. You may need tweezers or needle-nose pliers to extract small pieces left on the roller or gears.

When you’re sure the suspect paper is gone, replace the back door you removed the same way you took it out.

I added some ink to my black cartridge with a kit that I use. Depending on what type of cartridge you have, it may be an easy task — or not. I refill mine with a hypodermic-type needle that sucks ink from a bottle and transfers it to the cartridge via a small pad.

If you do refill your own ink, do it in the sink and keep paper towels handy. Should you overfill one, it could get messy.

In my case, I left the printer unused for over a week and that allowed the ink to coagulate on the print head, clogging it.

Should this happen to you, the next step is to run your printer’s cleaning utilities. Look in Control Panel or Printer and Devices section for your (default) printer. Locate the tools section, sometimes under Utilities tab, sometimes under the Advanced tab.

What you are ultimately looking for is the Clean Printhead utility. Run it once and see if the readout is clear. If not, run it again.

In a worst-case-scenario, you may need to dampen a paper towel with some isopropyl alcohol and wipe the head with it to remove a hardened ink scab.

Use extreme caution when working with printer ink. Love may not always be forever, but ink is. Try not to get it on anything and work in a safe area (i.e., not on the rug or bed). It will come off of your hands with mechanic’s soap, but if you get it on your favorite shirt, you’ll soon be finding a new one.

You may also need to run the Printhead Alignment tool at this time. If your output is skewed, follow the instructions your printer will give you. It’s a matter of choosing the best looking output on the test page that it prints.

To avoid future paper jams, be sure to use fresh, dry paper. Keep it stored it its wrapper, as humidity will soften it, leading to jams.

Make sure the edges of the stack are even and that there are no bent corners on the feed end. Don’t overstack the tray. See your printer’s documentation for the tray’s capacity.

While you are in printer repair mode, check for an updated driver.

Go to the printer manufacturer’s website (hp.com, epson.com, etc) and look for the section that is usually labeled support, downloads or drivers. Find your exact model and then choose your operating system (Windows 7, 8 or whatever you have). Some sites may ask if it’s 32- or 64-bit. 

Right-click on your Computer icon on your desktop , choose Properties and look for this information.

An updated printer driver may enhance your printing experience or simply fix a constant error you may have been experiencing.

After the download is complete, open the file and just follow the instructions. The entire process should take two to three minutes. If you choose the software package with the driver, it will take longer.

Be sure to reboot when you’re done.

Don’t be in a hurry to toss what you may believe is a broken printer. Jams can be fixed and heads can be cleaned.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.