What Is Google Docs?

It seems that more and more things are being done online. We keep our files online, we talk to people online, we place games online, and now you can make your business files online as well. If you're used to Microsoft's Office suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) or to Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers and Keynote) you won't be too confused when first you meet the Google Docs suite.

Google Docs does the basics of what you're used to doing in your normal office programs, but cuts out most of the bells and whistles. You can create a word processing document, a presentation, a spreadsheet, a form, or a drawing. You needn't remember to save as it auto-saves up to Google's cloud regularly, and you also have the option of downloading it to your computer so you can work on the document offline assuming you have a similar program on your computer. (You can also upload a file from your computer to Google Docs if you wish to work on it from any computer with internet access.)

You can also share your documents with others with a click of a button, allowing others to either download your document, view it online, or work on it online with you. These are handy options for people who need to collaborate with others who may use different types of computers or programs. It also has a very nice price point- free. That's right, you pay nothing for Google Docs; It's included in your free Google account. Now, keep in mind what I said in the beginning that it is missing some whistles and bells, but if you only do basic document creation and editing, I recommend checking out Google Docs.

Practical Tip of the Day:
In Google Docs, you have many options on which way you'd like to download your document. If you'd like to be able to edit it on your computer without having an internet connection, downloading it in the common Microsoft Office format is recommended (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint), but if you do not need to be able to edit it and would like to make it the easiest to view on a wide range of computers and mobile devices, PDF format is best. PDFs (portable document format) are not easily editable, but are able to be viewed using software that is usually included on modern computers, and easily downloaded in case it isn't there. Picking the format of your file is important as it dictates what you can do with your files, and how you can do it. Choose carefully!

What Are Flash Drives?

Flash drives, thumb drives, jump drives. All these different names mean the same thing! It used to be, long long ago (all the way back in the 80's, and yes, I'm being sarcastic) that if you needed to share information with another personal computer you could put it on a floppy disk. Then you could put it on a different kind of floppy disk; These ones weren't really floppy anymore, but they were very similar. Fast forward a little bit and you get to compact disks- CDs for short. Then came DVDs, and then finally, the flash drive.

These are usually about an inch to an inch and a half (about the size of a thumb, hence being called "thumb drives" sometimes). You stick the smaller metal end into the USB port on your computer. If you don't know if your computer has this port or where it is, look at all the holes in the machine, usually on the back, but sometimes on the side or front as well, and look for something that looks similar. It is extremely likely that you have a USB port on your computer as they've been standard for quite some time now.

Once you plug it into your computer, you'll be able to find it using the same technique you use to find files on your computer, and you'll be able to manipulate it in the same ways as well. Flash drives are like mini-hard drives in that they allow you to store files on them, manipulate files on them, and remove files from them as well. They are very handy when you need to share files that are too large to send in other means like email or cloud storage. For example, my husband recorded a video that was too large to send in either of those methods so he put it on the flash drive, brought it to his brother, plugged it into his computer, and then copied it over. The entire process (minus driving time of course) took less than two minutes.

Practical Tip of the Day:
When you go shopping for a flash drive, you'll find yourself overwhelmed with options. There are cheap ones, expensive ones, fancy and plain ones, large ones, small ones, etc. The most important factor in picking out a flash drive is how much storage it offers. If you noticed in the picture I placed above, the flash drive there says it has four gigs. (A "gig" is a unit of measure for computer data.) It is important to think about how much space you'll need before heading to a store. Will you be storing large video files or just transferring small word processing documents? Once you've picked the size, that will help narrow down your choices. Everything else is secondary. They make ones that connect to your keychain, ones that look like movie characters, ones that are as small as your thumb nail, and the list goes on and on!

Special Edition: What is CISPA?

Today Congress passed bill H.R. 3523, even while President Obama has promised to veto it. Being called the "Son-of-SOPA," H.R. 3523 is the new-big-and-scary-Internet-bill. H.R. 3523, AKA the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA for short) is remarkably like SOPA, but has some key differences.


While both bills would negatively affect the Internet and America's culture as a whole, CISPA focuses more on personal information and your ISP (Internet Service Provider). In short, the bill would allow your ISP (the company you pay to access the Internet) to monitor everything you do on the Internet, without your knowing, consent, or court order. Why would they do that? The bill says it would be to look for "potential threats" it would then report to the government. One of the criticisms of this is that the language is vague in what it is considered a threat. Another is that it would mean that everything you do, every blog you read, every email you read or send, every Facebook post, every picture on the Internet will be monitored and scanned to see if it mentions any trigger words.

Once your ISP knows what you're doing online, they can then share that information- including all your personal information as well like your name and address with other ISPs and the government. There is no way to opt out of this, and the ISPs will be granted immunity from privacy lawsuits. This law will supersede any and all privacy agreements you make with the ISP or any websites you visit.

Practical Tip of the Day:
Even though the bill has passed the House, it still has to pass the Senate and not be veto'ed by the President. You can find your elected officials by your zip code on this website, and can contact them in whichever means is most convenient for you. You can also see how your representative voted on this webpage.

What are Internet Pirates?

Pirates of yore would sail around the world, fighting, drinking, stealing, and in general being bad people. There are still pirates today, and while some are still naval-based, others are no different than the person next to you in the grocery store. Internet pirates don't have to leave the house, and some have never even been on a boat.

"Internet pirate" is a general term for anyone who acquires and/or shares other people's works online. The most commonly pirated types of works are TV shows, movies, and music. In the late 90's, Napster became very common, and people were sharing and downloading music as often as they checked their email. Some people didn't even know what they were doing was illegal. As access to the Internet became faster, eventually people began sharing videos, though at this point Napster had been all but shut down. People simply moved on to the next file-sharing site.

While downloading copyrighted material off the internet is illegal, it is doubtful that the FBI will be knocking down your door to take your computer and lock you up. What is most common for the internet pirate who's been caught is to receive a letter in the mail asking them to pay some large sum of money to make up for perceived lost revenue for the companies who's material you've downloaded. This can be more than a little startling for people who receive these letters, as often they're young people or unwitting parents of teenagers. Sometimes these letters even go to people who haven't pirated anything, but people who left their wireless network unprotected, and a neighbor has used their network instead.

Practical Tip of the Day:
If you use a wireless router (if you do not need to plug your internet into your computer), make sure it has a secure password on it. If you leave your wireless network with either no password, or a simple password ("admin", "abc123" or "password") you leave yourself open for people to use your internet to do whatever they want with. While receiving letters to pay for music you didn't steal is on the mild end, there have also been stories of elderly people and families being accused of things as serious as sharing child pornography because someone was using their network unbeknownst to them.

What is Cloud Storage?

It seems everything nowadays offers cloud storage, a place you can keep things up in... the cloud? What is "the cloud", what kind of things go into it, and how does it work? Cloud storage has been around for a long time, but it's seen a surge in popularity in recent years. (Note: This is not a full, technical explanation. This blog, and the articles within, serve to give a "normal person's" understanding of technical topics.)

When people talk about "the cloud" they are generally speaking about servers held by a particular company. A server is a physical computer that serves only one purpose- the kind we'll be discussing are storage servers, and their job is to hold, transfer, and move data and information around. When you put something up in "the cloud" you're sending the file over the Internet, and onto one of these servers. Once it's there, you can access it from any computer you want using the same website you used to put it up. That's it! Cloud storage in a nutshell.

Sometimes cloud storage is known as a "drop box", which I find is a lot less vague. Cloud storage is a lot like your own personal locker on the Internet, where you can access it wherever and whenever you'd like. How big your "locker" is depends on what the company offering it to you has allotted. Sometimes they're small, just big enough for a picture of two, or sometimes they're larger, allowing you to share whole movies with your friends and family.

Practical Tip of the Day:
Cloud storage can be used as a good way to back up your most important files from a "meteor falling on my house" sort of emergency, but may not be a good primary source of backup, especially if you ware using a cloud storage company that also offers file transfers (as many do). A good, recent example of this is a company called MegaUpload. It was taken offline by the government for being a place people would share copyrighted material like movies and music. Unfortunately, there were also lots of people who were using it for legitimate purposes like sharing important business files or storing person files like backups, photos, etc. At this point in time, they are still unable to access any of their files.

Should I Get a New Computer Now Or Wait?

Oh, the age old question! Should I wait, or get it now? While today's culture loves instant gratification, we also don't want to have our new computer replaced by a faster, better one just a couple months down the road. So, the battle rages, should I get a new computer now or wait?

There are several things to consider when looking to purchase a new computer:

• Is it a want or a need?
• What will you be using it for?
• How familiar are you with your current computer, if you have one?
• Do you feel the need to always have the latest items?

If getting a new computer is a want, then that means you can wait, but if it's a need, you should get one sooner rather than later. If you'll be using your computer for HD video editing and/or graphic design, you'll need a more powerful computer, but if you'll primarily be editing your home photos, sending emails and surfing the web, an average computer will suite you just fine (and save you some money). If you're very familiar with how your current computer works, upgrading to a new one won't be too difficult, but if you're still a novice or you don't currently own your own computer, you won't notice many of the upgrades a newer version has compared to an older one. Lastly, if you're a technophile, or you simply hate not having the latest-and-greatest, well, you know where I'm going with this one.

My own personal computer at home is a five-year-old iMac. That's pretty old for computers, and I can't do everything I used to, but I can still do most of my daily tasks, so I'm waiting for a new iMac to come out before I purchase because I do like having the newest, and I do do video editing and the like. My husband, on the other hand, had a critical failure of his previous computer (one too many drops if you ask me), and he needs to use it for work, so he had to get a new computer right away. There's no hard-and-fast rule about when to buy a computer, but I hope these points help clear it up a bit.

Practical Tip of the Day:
When buying a new computer, don't just go to the store and buy the first one the sales person recommends. Find a few you like, read reviews about them, ask if anyone you know has experience with the brand, and compare them to each other. An ounce of research can help keep you from over spending, over buying or getting the wrong thing altogether. Far too often I see people with simple computer needs being pressured into buying top-of-the-line computers that they simply don't need. If you buy a high end computer to primarily check your email, it's like buying a Lamborghini to drive around the city- you have a super fast car, but you're only ever driving it at 45 mph!

Can You Be Tracked By Your IP Address?

With people around the world being arrested by their governments for things they write on the Internet, children in the US being expelled for Twitter remarks, and the general lack of privacy the Internet affords us nowadays, there is increasing concern about whether you can be physically tracked by your computer or smart phone's IP address.

First of all, what is an IP address? IP stands for "Internet Protocol" and is the address of your Internet-enabled device. (Read: computer, smart phone, Wii, or anything that accesses the Internet) While IP addresses can and do change, you can also tell them to stay the same. An IP address is four sets of number ranging from 0-255 and is separated by periods, for example: 127.0.0.1, and there are two different kinds: public and private. The public one is the one used when you access the Internet, so this is the one I'll be using in this discussion.

In the TV shows, the high tech cop simply hops on a computer, goes to a complicated looking screen with a black background and green text, types in some cryptic commands, and a detailed map pops up showing the person's street, building, and then their apartment. This is almost, kind-of-sort-of, but not really how it happens. What really happens is this:

•  The police acquire a suspect's public IP address
•  The police can figure out the ISP (Internet Service Provider) from that.
•  They go to the company that gave out that IP address, and request/subpoena the information linked to that address
• They now have the billing information for that IP address.

Here are some catches, though:

• That's only the billing address, it doesn't prove who was using that computer.
• It can take days for an ISP to get the information to the police.
• If someone's tech-savvy, and knows what they're doing is bad, they're probably masking their IP via a proxy.

Which leads me to the PTD- what is a proxy?

Practical Tip of the Day:
If you're concerned about your privacy, or being tracked, there are plenty of websites that let your surf the web via a proxy. A proxy jumps you around a bit and gives your a different IP address so when you visit a webpage, it sees that you're in London, not in Chicago. While this can be helpful for those concerned with Internet privacy, it is not a necessary step for most people, and regularly using a proxy can be viewed as a sign that you do things online that you "don't want people to know about."

What is Child's Play Charity?

And what does it have to do with technology? Child's Play Charity is a nonprofit started and largely supported by the video game industry and it's community. They raise money to buy toys, books, movies and games for children's hospitals and therapy centers worldwide. Throughout the year donors can either view a specific hospital's Amazon wish list and purchase directly from there, or donate cash to the charity.

Child's Play is a unique charity in that none of the money donated is goes towards upkeep costs. The charity's administrative needs are paid for by the Penny Arcade company, and they are also the founders. (Warning: The Penny Arcade website may contain material that is offensive, and is not for all audiences.)

So now the question of why? Of all the things to donate to, why does Child's Play focus on games for children in hospitals. As anyone who's had to stay in a hospital can tell you, they are b-o-r-i-n-g! That in addition to being scary for children can make for a very bad experience. By giving hospitals the opportunity to have group activities like a Nintendo Wii or board games, they are helping make sure that not only can hospitalized children have something entertaining to do to distract them from their situation, but also provide visiting friends and family members with something to do with them as well.

Last year alone over 3.5 million dollars were raised for Child's Play Charity, and each year they significantly more than the last. Please consider Child's Play Charity when making charitable donation this year.

UPDATE: The creators of Child's Play have recently announced that Child's Play will now be supporting women's shelters as well. "Women's shelters are also often kid's shelters as well." -Mike Krahulik

Practical Tip of the Day:
Donations to Child's Play can be made directly on their webpage, but you can also check out their calendar of events. Many individuals hold fundraising events throughout the year, ranging from competitions to video-game marathons (yes, there is such a thing) and bake sales. If you're going to donate money, why not have some fun with it?

What are eReaders?

eReaders, also known as eBook Readers, are a type of tablet style device who's primary function is to display digital versions of books. (Click here if you are unfamiliar with eBooks.) the eReader market currently has three major competitors, and numerous smaller ones. The three big guys are the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes & Noble Nook, and the Apple iPad, and I'll be focusing on these today.

Digital books allow you to carry dozens, if not hundreds of books with you on one device smaller and lighter than even most magazines. They display the book, and often have other features as well like Internet capabilities, music playing, etc. When people ask if they should get an eReader, I often ask one simple question, "Do you want to be able to carry books with you wherever you go on one device?" If so, I then go down the list of a few potential negatives: Your "book" has a battery that needs to be charged. If you drop your "book" it could break, and potentially be very expensive to fix or replace. You have to turn off your "book" when taking off or landing in an airplane. You'll have to learn how to use your "book".

If you're undeterred after that, then you're probably a good candidate for an eReader, and then the next thing to consider is which one? I fully admit that I have brand biases, so I'm not going to go into reviews and recommendations, but here's a list of things to consider and compare when shopping for an eReader:

• eInk or LCD
• Battery life
• More than just reading (aka "apps")
• Size of the screen
• Weight of the device
• Selection of books
• Price

For example, if you prefer eInk (where the screen looks like print on paper) to LCD (where the screen looks more like a typical electronic's screen) for reading, you're looking for an inexpensive way to get into eReaders, and you just want books, no Internet or anything else, you might consider the Amazon Kindle. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a tablet that does much more than just books, has an LCD screen, and has a large screen, you might prefer the Apple iPad. Like I always say, read reviews, ask your friends if they have any person experience, and never rush into a purchase.

Practical Tip of the Day:
Older books that have fallen into public domain are always free to download. Never read Dracula? Here's your chance- for free! Current books are sold at a much cheaper rate than their printed cousins, and you can even check digital books out from your local library! How cool is that? Consult your owner's manual and/or your local library for details on how to "check out" digital books, and if you find yourself using the library regularly for your eBooks, consider making a donation to them.

What is Bluetooth?

Your phone has it, your computer has it, your car has it, it seems like just about everything nowadays has it. Bluetooth has become so ubiquitous that it seems a given for any electronic device to have it, but what is Bluetooth? I've been asked this many times, especially in how it's different from WiFi.

Hedy Lamarr. Bet you weren't expecting her in here, were you? This famous actress was actually one of the people that helped invent Bluetooth, though it wasn't called that at the time, and it certainly wasn't invented so you can control your toaster with your computer. She helped invent a way for radio signals to be sent in such a way that they couldn't be blocked or intercepted as part of the wartime effort, but the military simply filed the technology away.

Modern Bluetooth is, in the simplest terms, a way for a wireless signal to be sent in such a way that it "bounces around" various frequencies. Think of it as if you were trying to have a secret conversation over walkie-talkies. You'd hop on one channel, say a couple words, switch to another, some some more words, etc. for your whole conversation. Electronics do this using short-wavelength radio signals, and by using this technology, you can use multiple wireless devices at once with no ill effect.

Even if you have twenty Bluetooth devices turned on and working at once (you have a Bluetooth headset on your phone, wireless mouse and keyboard on your computer, wireless printer, etc.) you'll get no interference between them because they're jumping around on their signals enough that it's highly unlikely that any two objects will be using the same wavelength at the same time, and even if they do, they use it for such a short amount of time you won't notice it.

Practical Tip of the Day:

Most phones and computers that have Bluetooth capabilities have it turned on by default. Having this running if you're not using it can not only drain your battery, but can also be a security hazard. If you see the Bluetooth symbol (see right), go into your settings and turn it off until you do need it.

How Do I Know if a Webpage is Secure?

Ever been ready to fill out a form online and then pause, wondering who's actually getting your information? Most websites are public, and the information you share on them is unsecured, meaning people other than the intended recipient may be able to access it. How can you be sure if a website's form (the part you fill in) is secure or not?

Look up at your URL bar. The URL bar is where a website's address is displayed on your web browser's window. The text inside usually starts with "http://" See it? Now, go to a website where you need to type in your personal information like a bank's webpage. It's ok, I'll wait. Did you see it? The difference? The URL (URL is the technical name for a website's address) didn't say "http://", it said "https://" The little "s" makes all the difference! S stands for "secure".

When a website's address has that S at the end of "HTTP" it means that that website has special measures in place specifically to ensure that the information you type in to that webpage goes directly to them, and does so in a secure, safe way. While I'll spare you the techno-babble of the "how," just make sure you're more aware of the websites you visit, and their security status.

Practical Tip of the Day:
If, instead of outsiders, you're more concerned with people who share your computer getting your information, consider using your web browser's private browsing settings. Generally called things like "Private Browsing" or "Incognito Mode" (these are examples for Safari and Chrome respectively,) these modes allow you to browse the web without the history being recorded, cookies being saved, and various other tracking methods disabled.