Windows Snipping tool-Another way to copy

With my new computer I'm trying to find ways to use the programs that come with Windows 7. Last night I used something I hadn't even thought about. I wanted to copy a song list off itunes music store, but couldn't figure out how. So I went to my Windows 7 book, which mention the Windows Snipping Tool.

This is a little program that allows you to copy a page or part of a page, & then do one of a number of things. You can e-mail it, or paste it in another program. Or in my case, I sent the page to documents, after which I was able to print the page.

This worked great, because when i tried to print directly from itunes, it was way too large & cut off part of the page. How it works is you use your cursor to draw a line around what content you want to copy. then you print it. Actually that didn't work so well. But there are multiple options. The rectangular snip didn't work for me, but the window snip was perfect. It captured the full page at the right size, was readable, & I will probably use it again. I would be interested in how an e-mail would work, or how i would use this tool to paste it into, say a Word document.

For all the talk about Mac, I think this is a nice little helper, & I am already thinking of something else I could use it for. There are other programs I should use, but maybe I don't know about them yet. It's just nice to know there is something that helps we non-geeks in using our computers to a greater degree.

The problem with streaming video

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The new way to watch video is supposed to be online. Not DVD rentals. While it sounds good, it really doesn't work that well depending on your hardware & the streaming service you use.

I use Netflix. While streaming seems to be the way the site does it in Canada, in the USA the amount of movies is very limited. I'm not really interested in 10 year old movies I barely remember, or straight to video productions. This seems to be what they offer to us. Or you watch 30 year old or more films. Some which are classics (Bonnie & Clyde, Lawrence of Arabia), but still. Those will show up on TCM or somewhere else.

And yet this is supposed to be the wave of the future. Again: What if you don't have good enough hardware? Am I supposed to spend extra money on a Roku box just to watch movies? Ain't gonna happen. I have watched some on my computer. Fine. But why watch on a small monitor instead of a full size tv?

In some cases technology seems to be going backwards while appearing to go forward. I just want to watch something. I shouldn't have to go through hoops.

When a website sells smaller qty's than store

You want to think that it's convenient to go in a store & see the item you want to buy rather than buy online without seeing it. Not always the case. I went in a store that just opened up in my local mall that sells specialty teas. Get this: loose leaf in large quantities. They, of course, try to sell you special containers & fancy tea kettles & services.


Now I go on their website & low & behold, I can buy the tea in reasonable quantities. You know, like 20 cups. Different types are at different prices like white tea costing more than black tea & herbals costing yet a different price (gotta love that). But I can handle say $6 for some type of tea as opposed to the physical store selling a pound for $20-30.


This is because people will buy on the spur of the moment when in the store. Especially now that we're getting close to the holidays (fancy Christmas gift). Who is going to think "I wonder what their website has"? Me, I say, "no I ain't paying that for tea when i can go to Target & pay $3 for 20 bags of Bigelow or Tazo", which I did.

Sony Walkman discontinued on ipod's birthday

I was shocked, shocked I tell you to read that Sony is killing off the Walkman! They still make it? And they're doing it on the 9th anniversary of the ipod's birth. How ironic. And get this. I just went in my bedroom & I still have it. It's sitting on a shelf on a tv cart, & hasn't been turned on in years. I just pushed some dust aside, found the on switch, clicked it & the radio still works!! How long have the batteries been in that thing?

So say what you will about not progressing. I mean it's a cassette player with a radio in a mp3 world. But after years it still works. That's amazing. Of course it was going to go under eventually. How many cassettes would get eaten up, plus the pain of rewinding just so you could take the tape out, flip it over to listen to the other side. Not to mention how do you find a specific song.

So yeah, it's surprising that it lasted this long. But then again, I still have a VCR. Yes I have a DVD player, but not a DVR. At least not yet. The Walkman changed the way people listened to music, but it was never perfect. You could only listen to one tape (an album's worth) at a time. My ipod is an 8GB nano, & I have probably 10 full cd's on it. And some time in the future it will be replaced by something that hasn't been created yet.

Will high tech ever come to household chores?

Today I did two things that everyone has to do sometimes. I vacuumed my house & did the laundry. And while I sit here at my computer I have a thought. It's 2010. Why am I still cleaning the carpets & my clothes the same way my mother & grandmother did? Yes, I could splurge & buy a Roomba & maybe a super speed washer/dryer, but the technology is basically the same.

Yeah, the Roomba is a fun idea. Program it, & get out of the way. Let it run around the house picking up dirt. Of course, I don't know how good this thing actually is. Do I have to use a regular vacuum to pick up what it didn't? How about the washer/dryer. Why hasn't that been redesigned. Like something that can wash with little water (maybe steam or a non-water based detergent product), & then a fast drying application. Why the same system as 50 years ago?

Cooking has changed (microwaves anyone?), cars (hybrids, electrics), mail (e-mail), but these two everyday or , at least once a week, haven't & I wonder if they ever will. Where is the genius who will really change our lives for the better?

Are $200 headphones that much better than $30 ones?

When I got my ipod it came with the standard cheap Apple earbuds. the sound wasn't that great (although I'm no audiophile), plus I have one ear with a bigger opening than the other meaning flat earbuds like Apple's don't like to stay in.

So I spent months looking online for better buds. I looked at a lot of sites at a lot of reviews of a lot of earbuds. On ear, in ear, headphones (sorry, but those just look dumb). I checked out all the different brands & all different price points from $10 to $100. I really didn't want to spend more than $50, but I looked.

I wanted ones with legitimate bass, & realistic sound. I ended up getting some $30 Sony in-ear buds. I've had them for several months, & was using them this afternoon to listen to some classical music. These are nice. Are they as good as really expensive ones? I have no idea. but then again, I said I wasn't an audiophile. Heck, I have a $50 home theater from Walmart, so what do I know?

The point is, you can charge anything & claim your product is superior because of this or that. Most people can't tell the difference, because it's not their job to look for tiny little flaws. I can't go into Target or Best Buy & tell the difference between the $800 & $2000 big screen either. But because of the money involved, I will study & investigate through Cnet, Consumer Reports, & any other media that reviews products.  It was months of looking before I bought my new computer.

The biggest problem imho is there is just too many choices, even within the same brand. I don't like having to spend months just deciding what earphones, speakers, or tv to buy. but that's the reality so I deal with it. As does everybody else. But how much money is wasted by companies making so many different models that all do the same thing?

Why touchscreen voting failed

Sometime this week I will vote in the general election. What's that you say?  The election isn't until November 2. Yes, but like a majority of Californians, I am a permanent vote-by-mail voter.

The June primary saw 57% vote by mail. Over 6 million are registered as permanent voters this way. Why has this happened? Because of all the nonsense that has gone on since the 2000 election. Touchscreens were thrown out of California & other states because of problems. Like clicking on one candidates name, & it picking the one next to it. The ability to hack the machines. Glitches like one in Ohio this year, where the machines simply stopped working.

And, of course, the CEO of Diebold, which has since changed it's name, saying he wanted to deliver states to George Bush. Ooops. So in this case, technology failed badly. So back to paper ballots. Although many foreign countries are using these discredited machines. Internet voting will never happen for the same reason. They use it in Switzerland, where they get passwords through the mail. Estonia uses a half-assed system. A national identity card with a chip that gets you to the online ballot. but you can only use it on the official advanced voting day. Otherwise you have to go to a polling station on election day. That's kind of odd.

I would like to see a more modern system, but obviously we tried, but it didn't work. Computers can have glitches. the makers of these devices clearly didn't watch closely enough to make sure they were totally secure, & hackers are always out there, along with dishonest people.