Another sad day in the United States. Two bombs exploded in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing three people and injuring more than 130 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs that raised alarms that terrorists might have struck again in the U.S. – Source (AP)
I started thinking is there a service out there that can provide us with breaking news as it happens and push it out there to our computers, smartphones and tablets? Sadly, in today’s world, getting the news as fast as you can is important toward maintaining one’s safety.
The service I came across that pushes the biggest breaking stories as they happen, 24 hours a day, is called just that, Breaking News.
Breaking News is part of the of the NBC News Digital Network; however, the service is a fully independent, agnostic news organization that brings you the biggest stories as they happen, 24 hours a day, from more than a 160 news and eyewitness sources across the globe. Breaking News also is available as an app that will work off of the Android, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, Windows Phone, Windows 8 and Samsung Smart TV platforms.
Going back to this tragic event, my heart goes out to anyone that was a victim of this senseless act and I pray that the people of this country, who feel there is division, show the world that we are truly one nation under God that can come together in time of need.
The best description I can give for Microsoft Surface Pro is that it is a laptop in tablet form. It will run the same programs that you have been running with Windows 7; BUT, will this be enough to standup to the competition (the Android Tablets and iPad)?
I am a Windows user, always have been, but there is two things that is holding me back from the Surface Pro, and has me questioning Microsoft’s strategy:
The price of $899+ is too salty for my pocketbook. For 899+ I can get a pretty decent Ultrabook with a touch screen. Granted the Surface Pro is comparable to the full Windows desktop and notebook computer experience that I have always been used to; however, after personally using and experiencing the simplicity of the Android Tablet (at a much lesser price), and the iPad, I cannot see existing home based computer users or the new generation of users (our kids and grandkids) going for Microsoft’s flavor of the tablet (Pro or RT Models).
For example, I have two elderly friends of mine, one owning an Android Tablet and the other owning an iPad. Both have expressed how easy it was for them to use these devices in comparison to their Windows based computers. As a matter of fact, they are spending less time at the keyboard.
The Surface Pro (best model) ships with a 128 GB of space and from what I am reading this space can drop dramatically to around 89 GBs with Windows 8, Microsoft Office and the built in Windows apps installed (click here). Also, I have noticed that many of the Windows Store apps can be quite large in file or install size compared to the typical apps installed on the Android OS and iOS (iPad) platforms.
I don’t want to sound too negative about Microsoft Surface, because I am a true Windows based user who has lived in the operating system for years; BUT, that has been my passion, my hobby, my life blood… Most people I know could care less about computers or Microsoft Windows. All they want is an easy computer (internet) experience and they want it at a reasonable cost; whether it is Android, iOS (iPad) or Microsoft. In other words, I am starting to realize that the writing may be on the wall and that myself, desktop computing and Microsoft is becoming old school pretty fast.
I would love to hear insight on this from the experts in the field and from the everyday computer user at home. (see a related article here, called Rethinking Tablets, at TTC Shelbyville - a Tennessee Tech School).
Get the manufacturer specs on Microsoft Surface Pro -[ HERE ]
Customer Reviews: See what other people are saying about Microsoft Surface Pro – [CLICK HERE]
Product Features
i5 processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000
4GB Ram Dual Channel Memory
Windows 8 Pro
128 GB
10.6″ ClearType HD Display
404 Tech Support, a member of the What’s On My PC blogroll, posted an article CCleaner-like app for Androidthat caught my attention; BUT, the real attention grabber in the article was one of the apps he recommended, called Clean Master.
I downloaded Clean Master and installed it on my Android smartphone (Sony Xperia X10) and installed it on my Android Tablet (Toshiba Thrive). Clean Master is an approximately 1.8 mb install that is worth its’ weight in gold.
After using Android for quite some time now and after installing (and uninstalling) numerous apps, I often wondered just how much data pollution was occurring on these devices. The term data pollution is a term I made up to describe leftover files and hidden files that you, the user, is totally unaware of. These files on an Android device can include history files, cache files, residual files and the app packages (.apk files) that Android uses to install apps.
What I soon discovered, after installing and running Clean Master, is that the accumulation of these files can easily run into hundreds of megabytes. On my phone, which is an older powerhouse Android phone (Sony Xperia X10), space is precious to me. After running Clean Master, I regained 35 MB’s of space. On my tablet (Toshiba Thrive), which I call my Android workhorse, I was able to reclaim nearly a gigabyte of space. I found Clean Master to be safe and did not alter or effect the operation of either of these devices.
404 Tech Support was correct in comparing Clean Master toCCleaner, the popular computer optimization and cleaning tool. This is a must have cleaner app for Android Users…
Key Features
History Eraser
Clean cache Files
Clean unused files
Manage and clean app packages
Remind unused files when app installed
Kill running tasks/release RAM
Looking for a tablet computer reminds me of the day when desktops started to flourish and everyone wanted one. It is like shopping for a car and by the end of the day you are more confused than you were at the beginning of the day.
Here is my take on Tablet Computers… For the home based computer user, buy a reasonably priced Android OS based tablet, such as the Kindle Fire HD (7 inch). I cannot see putting out large amounts of money for a tablet; especially, when the next latest and greatest is just around the corner. We are only seeing the beginning of this type of technology.
I recently got my hands on the Kindle Fire HD and was very impressed. With the Kindle Fire you are really getting a great tablet that features a high definition display, great sound (Dolby Audio), dual-antenna Wi-Fi, a massive selection of Android Apps and much, much more for under $200… I especially liked that the Fire has a Micro USB 2.0 port (for connection of a PC) and a Micro-HDMI port for high definition video output to a television. Many of the other 7 inch tablets lack these external connectivity options. All-In-All, for the home based computer user, the Kindle Fire HD is a tablet to consider.
Customer Reviews:See what other people are saying about the Kindle Fire HD Tablet Computer –[ CLICK HERE ]
Readers: To keep the blog interesting, I plan to feature a tech product of the week that will feature a direct link to the manufacturer for specifications and a link to Amazon to see the customer reviews (and how the product is being rated).
MediaFire is an online file storage and sharing service that most computer users at home are not familiar with. With MediaFire you are given 50GB’s of space (for FREE) with a 200 MB file upload size limit. Compared to the other online storage services (which typically offer much less FREE storage space), MediaFire is very generous in their offering. I have maintained an account with MediaFire for nearly 2 years and have never experienced an issue.
The complaint you will hear coming from people about MediaFire is that they will remove your account is your account is inactive. There is some truth to this; however, the rule is that if you must access the MediaFire API (your account) from either the Web, your Mobile platform or your desktop platform at least once per year and if you do that, your account will never be removed. This is a pretty easy rule to follow; especially, that you are getting 50 GBs of online storage space. If your account is in jeopardy you will receive sufficient notice via the email account you signed up with.
The one downfall to MediaFire, that I was experiencing, was no Android App available to access and manage my MediaFire files from my tablet. This has all changed within the past couple days (prior to the writing of this article). MediaFire now has an Android mobile app available in the Google Play Store that can be downloaded to your Android phone or tablet. You can get the MediaFire App [HERE] .
The MediaFire mobile app lets you access all your documents, photos, and videos from anywhere. Securely store, organize, and share all your data on the web and through your Android device.
Features:
• Keep all your important files at your fingertips.
• View docs, spreadsheets, presentations, video, and listen to audio.
• Take and upload pictures and videos directly in the MediaFire app.
• Upload Android gallery images.
• Create and manage folders of files.
• Share files on the go via email, SMS, through other Android apps, and with copy and paste links.
• Quickly search all your MediaFire files and folders.
MediaFire Android App: Requires Android OS 2.2 or higher
If you are looking for an economical (and ingenious) way to wirelessly bring the internet to your TV (including steaming videos) or to turn your TV into a Smart TV, then the MK808 Dual Cord Android (4.1) TV Box may be up your alley. In essence, this device is an Android device without the screen. You plug it into the HDMI port on your TV and use the TV as your screen. It is like having a giant Android Tablet, with all the apps, bells and whistles that Android offers.
Readers: To keep the blog interesting, I plan to feature a tech product of the week that will feature a direct link to the manufacturer for specifications and a link to Amazon to see the customer reviews (and how the product is being rated). In essence, it is my Tech Toy Wish List as a work in progress…
If you are an Android device owner (smartphone or tablet) and you are a Microsoft Office user it is important to have the ability to create, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint files, while on the go.
The android app that I settled with, that is FREE, is the acclaimed Kingsoft Office for Android. I have tested nearly every android app out there that is capable of creating, viewing and editing Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files, and Kingsoft Office is, in my opinion, the best choice and the most accurate.
Kingsoft Office for Android is the only Android mobile Office with full-features FREE. It is currently the No.1 FREE Business App in the Google Play Market. Over 12 million people worldwide are using this mobile office app to edit, share, and collaborate on the go. It is widely used in various popular mobile phones like Samsung and HTC. For Samsung Galaxy Note, we have a special installer, learn more.
Two of my favorite features are the ability to read Adobe PDF files and the ability to upload and download files on Box.net, Google Drive and Dropbox, directly from the file manager built into the app.
Feature List:
Desktop Widget
Writer for Android
Spreadsheets for Android
Presentation for Android
File manager
Input file formats: Support 23 kinds of files, including DOC/DOCX/TXT /XLS/XLSX/PPT/PPTX/PDF
Output file formats: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint 97 to 2010 formats: .doc, .docx, .txt, .xls, .xlsx, .pptx and .pdf.
Share documents via Email
and Cloud Storage.
Easily open, view and send
Email attachments.
Upload and download files
on Box.net, Google Drive and Dropbox.
The interface is simple and easy to navigate.
The thumbnail wall helps you to find the recently opened files quickly.
The Desktop Widget provides convenient document previewing and editing functions.
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presentable and understandable to ALL; and at the same time feed my
obsession for information technology by learning from others.
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comments section at the bottom of any of the articles.
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Posted by Ramblinrick 
