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Tech/Computer advice from me

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I definitely want an Android tablet and I love the xoom, but have been using only wifi for it and would like the extra flexibility og 4G. Its not a show killer, but a nice to have. My kids have the Fire's and I'm really not a fan due to the limits on non-amazon stuff. I like being able to read Nook, Kindle and Google books all on the same device. Plus its only 7-8 inch so too small.

The Nexus 10 is one that I have on the list too. Its a nice unit as well

tshile said:
Are you dead set on having 4g/LTE access on your tablet? Wireless only isn't an option?

There is obviously the iPad.

I've heard good things about the kindle fire HD but remember you don't have access to the Google Play Store with it (hence it being so cheap), you only have access to the Amazon play store. Now, honestly, most android developers publish to both and you can side load any android app you want, so it's all about convenience and how tight your budget is.

I've finally decided that I'm never buying a skinned android device again, so I personally would recommend one of the Nexus tablets. http://www.google.com/nexus/

Regular Android is a great OS - it's when Samsung, Motorola, HTC, or others put their stupid skins over them that they turn into garbage. Plus you'll be guaranteed immediate updates for the next 2-3 years.

So if you weren't going iPad I'd recommend the nexus 7 or 10, depending on size preference.

What you really need to do is go to best buy, staples, and other electronics stores and play with a few of them and figure out which ones you like, then decide based on price/specs from there.
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yeah, unfortunately i'm not a tablet person. I don't really have a use for them, so I don't own one. my wife has a kindle fire but I don't use it and she uses it as a reader. so that's about the extent of what I can offer :(

the only reason I ask about 4g is because so many people get it, not understanding what it is, and then months later make some comment like 'I like my tablet, but it sucks it costs me $40 dollars a month to use it' and we just smack our foreheads with our palms and tell them to go cancel the service and use wifi.

Most of those people are iPad owners :eek:

I don't really blame them, they aren't tech savvy people and the sales people are looking out for their own commission not the well being of the customer so they get tricked into thinking it's just part of the deal. So when people ask for 4G/LTE I normally try to feel out whether they understand what they're talking about, you seem to :)

One day I'll get a tablet. I'm holding out that my company will buy me a new surface pro and I'll replace my laptop with a 2 lbs laptop and tablet all in one.

Probably not going to happen.

I have a hard time recommending windows 8 tablets to people because the market place for apps is just so far behind android and apple, and most people want a tablet for consuming (among other things) apps.

If you think you can get over not having the largest app store then I would suggest you check out the surface. The reviews are pretty good on it.
 
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I still prefer a desktop for home use.

So why are you so against Dell? Who would you recommend?
 
tshile said:
yeah, unfortunately i'm not a tablet person. I don't really have a use for them, so I don't own one. my wife has a kindle fire but I don't use it and she uses it as a reader. so that's about the extent of what I can offer :(

the only reason I ask about 4g is because so many people get it, not understanding what it is, and then months later make some comment like 'I like my tablet, but it sucks it costs me $40 dollars a month to use it' and we just smack our foreheads with our palms and tell them to go cancel the service and use wifi.

Most of those people are iPad owners :eek:

I don't really blame them, they aren't tech savvy people and the sales people are looking out for their own commission not the well being of the customer so they get tricked into thinking it's just part of the deal. So when people ask for 4G/LTE I normally try to feel out whether they understand what they're talking about, you seem to :)

One day I'll get a tablet. I'm holding out that my company will buy me a new surface pro and I'll replace my laptop with a 2 lbs laptop and tablet all in one.

Probably not going to happen.

I have a hard time recommending windows 8 tablets to people because the market place for apps is just so far behind android and apple, and most people want a tablet for consuming (among other things) apps.

If you think you can get over not having the largest app store then I would suggest you check out the surface. The reviews are pretty good on it.
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Honestly, I am not 100% on wanting the 4G, though I say that while in a wireless hotzone! LOL, ask me when I'm not!!

I can probably live with wifi only anyway.

That surface is a very nice unit. I messed with one at Staples the other day. That lack of apps and that its not android is a downside for me though.

I think Im debating between the Nexus 10 and the Galaxy note 10 at this point. Both are great.
 
tshile said:
the only reason I ask about 4g is because so many people get it, not understanding what it is, and then months later make some comment like 'I like my tablet, but it sucks it costs me $40 dollars a month to use it' and we just smack our foreheads with our palms and tell them to go cancel the service and use wifi.
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And if you so desire, you could simply get the WiFi and get the HotSpot for you cell phone for much less than the $40...
 
Burgundy Burner said:
I still prefer a desktop for home use.

So why are you so against Dell? Who would you recommend?
Click to expand...

It's just a personal preference based off of my own past experiences.

For every negative thing/story I can say about Dell there's someone out there that feels the same way about HP, or Sony, or both :) You also have to remember that I do a lot of work with servers and on a level much different than home users, and Dell is also in that area. And, to be honest, Dell servers and server related products just suck; servers, enclosures, et al. It's probably unfair for me to transfer that over to home user computers, since it's completely different product lines with completely different people running them and goals for them, but it's what winds up happening.

I like HP because I think they build quality products for a reasonable price that last, and I think they have a great support system. But it's a completely biased/subjective thing.

I would recommend Sony if you were looking for a travel laptop because they make a really nice 13/14" model and 13/14" is perfect for using the tray tables on an airplane, any bigger and it just doesn't really fit right.

You looking for a new computer?

fansince62 said:
just an interest question...what are you all doing for security?
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I don't know who this is directed at, but if it's me then can you be more specific? Otherwise I'll wind up writing a book no one wants to read ;)

the short of it is: separating admin/local user accounts, password complexity/expiration policies, antivirus, keeping OS up to date, keeping often abused software up to date, basic firewall configuring.
I don't work for any companies big enough to justify any serious packet inspection. Wish I did, but as it currently stands I don't :(
 
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I don't know if you guys remember the problem I described much earlier in the thread, but it has eerily returned.
It started after I would rip music tracks from a CD to my PC. It would default to file names as Track 1, Track 2, etc. I would then go and change the names of the files to the actual song/artist name. I would go back later and find that the PC had changed the names back, on its own.
So we determined that I needed to go into the folder, click on Properties, Customize, and then the drop-down menu for Template, to describe the file types, which I changed from "Music, best for audio files" to "Documents, for any file types". I went into every sub-folder with music, as well as the folders "above" it, to cover all my bases.

I did this, and it initially seemed to work for quite some time. Then weeks or months later I go back and see that not only has it changed the file names again, but I went to check the Property settings, and it actually changed it back from "Document" types to "Music" types on its own, even though I manually set it to Documents, and hit "Apply".

So, what kind of crazy thing could be happening to not only change the file names, but also the settings I programmed to control the file names ?
 
The only thing I can suggest is just moving it to another folder somewhere else on the machine. I have no idea what would be resetting those settings or why. It could be some dumb part of the system that just goes 'oh, music, they must want it displayed like this!' without checking to see if you explicitly set the settings, or it could have been caused by a windows update for all I know.
 
Here's what I do.

I've ripped all my CDs in to mp3 format, even though my vehicle does not have any provision to plug in an aux input. All my ripping was done with WMP.

I then use the audio coder within Mediacoder http://www.mediacoderhq.com/dlfull.htm to 'adjust' all the tracks so that the volume is all the same.

Once all that is done, I then load them all on to Winamp, which, with the click of a single button, names them and downloads any and all info of the track. It can even find the cover art. Once that is all done, it is a matter of transferring what you want to your mp3 player.

So as to play mp3's in my car, I use a transmitter that relays the signal through the stereo. I plug the mp3 player in to the transmitter, put the tune the stereo in to a non-used frequency, tune the transmitter in to the same frequency, then enjoy the tunes.

Works for me, but there is some work involved to get to that stage.
 
fansince62 said:
just an interest question...what are you all doing for security?
Click to expand...

I'll take a stab at this one, fansince and just make a couple of observations.

The story, admittedly probably apocryphal, is that noted bank robber Willie Sutton when asked why he robbed banks replied "Because that's where the money is." Altough "malware" in general has spread to numerous legitimate sites is was notoriously present in porn, warez, torrent and other "get stuff outside of normal channels" type sites, especially music/movies/games/cracked software sites. I simply avoid those. I don't use torrent sites anymore at all. Another observation I've made is that convenience and security are in an inverse relationship-the more convenient the easier to bust. I always unclick things like "Remember Me" radio buttons, I hand type all PWs and IDs.

I try to keep abreast of concentrations of "nefarious" goings-on-which means I avoid .cn and .ru country codes-China and Russia. China is a hotbed of nasty hacker activities and Russian sites are just an invitation to join a bot-net.

One thing that keeps me rather more secure than most users, I think, is that I don't use a pc like most users from what I've seen and heard. I view the web as a modern day Library of Alexandria and my predominant use is research. I'm on science , math, and university sites and research oriented sites a lot and pretty much ignore most social sites-with the exception of FB and there I am careful about divulging any more than I think necessary. I recently joined Pinterest but haven't heard of any problems about them.

The online "bad guys" go where the action is and I'm usually elsewhere. Of course I have anti-virus, anti-spyware,and such software-Avast, Malwarebytes Antimalware, Super AntiSpyware, CCleaner, Advanced System Care, gmer (for rootkits), and a few more- and I do regular internal scans. If I'm using public wi-fi I usually sandbox the browser and scan the sandbox folder after I'm done for unwanted "gifts."

As you can see I'm not a "mainstream" type user but I thought I'd try and answer your question anyway.
 
is the same application/player parsing the file each time you start a session?
 
impressive serv!!! someone's been doing his homework!

but I'll social engineer you one day anyway! just kidding.

you don't backup critical data?

btw....you don't think the bad guys are especially interested in science/math sites insofar as they relate to R&D, intellectual property, etc.?

not directed at you....but a general thought since most of us are web bound: port 80/443 slides right through the firewall - in short....great protocol for tunneling the bad stuff. app/web proxy is needed. firewalls only control connections - not content at higher layers in the stack (there are firewalls that do this - but not the stuff we all buy at Best Buy, etc.!).
 
fansince62 said:
impressive serv!!! someone's been doing his homework!

but I'll social engineer you one day anyway! just kidding.

you don't backup critical data?

btw....you don't think the bad guys are especially interested in science/math sites insofar as they relate to R&D, intellectual property, etc.?

not directed at you....but a general thought since most of us are web bound: port 80/443 slides right through the firewall - in short....great protocol for tunneling the bad stuff. app/web proxy is needed. firewalls only control connections - not content at higher layers in the stack (there are firewalls that do this - but not the stuff we all buy at Best Buy, etc.!).
Click to expand...

Social engineer me? You already did. My post told you what some of my security measures are.

Not all, however. :)

BTW, I do back up critical data.

Most research oriented sites that are involved with potentially "useful" information are not the area in which the "typical" malware dropping hacker is interested in. These folks, I think, do it for either thrills, sowing off or some level of white-collar crime-id theft, keylogging capers, stuff like that-the more serious-like the Russians and their notorious bot-nets go for bigger prey-banks, for example.

The guys at the serious espionage level probably would have better success with person-to-person pretexting or "baiting" a facility-leaving an infected flash drive lying around in the hopes some dummy would just plug it in to see what's on it. That one is amazingly effective and dangerous. Those techniques are easier than trying to hack in to R&D type sites which usually are "hardened" more than the average pc against online attacks.. Humans are easier to get info from than computers.
 
serv...look at the evidence.

think of things as systems of systems.

think about the underlying technology suites.

the advantages are lopsided.

and, oh btw, cybercrime has gone hyperbolic. total value of cybercrime passed drug trade about 2-3 years ago. the threat against you isn't just espionage.

there's a process behind all of this - dropping malware is only one activity. as with most things in life...collecting data lies at the front end. and that is a wide open space.
 
the best thing you can do is know where you are. that doesn't prevent everything, but the bulk of identity theft comes from people willingly giving up their information just not realizing who they're giving it up to (ie: phishing)

if you go to log into your bank and something doesn't look 'quite right' you're better off figuring out what is going on before just mindlessly typing in your username/password.

problem is majority of the people don't have a clue about that. i'm guessing majority of people don't know the difference between ports 80 and 443, or http and https. one day it'll be mandatory learning in grade school - like keyboarding class when I was young. until then cyber crime will continue to be a very lucrative business driven around taking advantage of people that don't understand the internet/computers.
 
tshile said:
the best thing you can do is know where you are. that doesn't prevent everything, but the bulk of identity theft comes from people willingly giving up their information just not realizing who they're giving it up to (ie: phishing)

if you go to log into your bank and something doesn't look 'quite right' you're better off figuring out what is going on before just mindlessly typing in your username/password.

problem is majority of the people don't have a clue about that. i'm guessing majority of people don't know the difference between ports 80 and 443, or http and https. one day it'll be mandatory learning in grade school - like keyboarding class when I was young. until then cyber crime will continue to be a very lucrative business driven around taking advantage of people that don't understand the internet/computers.
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all excellent points.

your and serv's advice to be a proactive defensive consumer on the Net is sage counseling.

me? well....I'm simple minded. I just assume I'm going to be compromised. I therefore use a CPU I don't care about and reload the OS/apps every 6 mos or so. once virtualization is really commoditized for the consumer....this process will be a lot easier/faster.
 
you would be a prime candidate for an upgrade to windows 8, fansince.

all you have to do is install the hyper-v role, make a virtual machine and set up your windows 8 as a VM that you use. take a snapshot of it once you have it initially set up, then 6 months later revert the snapshot.

it would take you a grand total of 5 minutes to reload everything, if that's the way you like running your computer.

have a new application you picked up in those 6 months? that's fine, roll back the snap shot, install the application, take a new snapshot. now when you roll back 6 months down the road it'll keep your new application installed :)

you can also use hyper-v and just boot windows 7/windows 8 from a virtual disk. pretty sure you lose the snapshot features :\

you have to buy the right version of windows 8 to get hyper-v though. everywhere you look it says you have to have ultimate, but I promise you i'm running win 8 professional and installed hyper-v from the add/remove features. no hacks or anything.
 
tshile said:
you would be a prime candidate for an upgrade to windows 8, fansince.

all you have to do is install the hyper-v role, make a virtual machine and set up your windows 8 as a VM that you use. take a snapshot of it once you have it initially set up, then 6 months later revert the snapshot.

it would take you a grand total of 5 minutes to reload everything, if that's the way you like running your computer.

have a new application you picked up in those 6 months? that's fine, roll back the snap shot, install the application, take a new snapshot. now when you roll back 6 months down the road it'll keep your new application installed :)

you can also use hyper-v and just boot windows 7/windows 8 from a virtual disk. pretty sure you lose the snapshot features :\

you have to buy the right version of windows 8 to get hyper-v though. everywhere you look it says you have to have ultimate, but I promise you i'm running win 8 professional and installed hyper-v from the add/remove features. no hacks or anything.
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thanks for the pointer! right now one can download free copies of VMWare and the configuration app so I might play with these as well.

presently, my attentions are focused on mobility security and some other stuff.
 
yeah good luck with mobility security. you tell people they should install antivirus on their phone and they look at you like you're an alien.

whatever, it's their identity that gets stolen not mine. there's tons of sites on the internet that are just photo dumps of what is found on hacked phones.
 
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