Open Office Worth A Second Look

The prices of desktop and lap top computers continue to be very affordable. There are net books available for about $250 and desktops loaded with features for not too much more. Once you make the purchase you are often in for a surprise. The cost of the necessary software can be as much or more than the hardware. While operating systems like XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 come included in all but the most inexpensive computers, the software required to actually do something productive with your machine costs extra.

Even a basic suite of programs like Microsoft Office (Student Version) which contains MS Word, a word processor, Excel, a spreadsheet program and Power Point, a presentation program, costs about $150. If you want the deluxe edition, the price can go over $500. That is more money than many of us will pay for the new computer.

You may be surprised to learn that you have an option and do not need to purchase these expensive software packages. There are very good programs available free on the Internet. No, they are not pirated versions of Microsoft programs. If you download them you need not worry about seeing a black Chevy Suburban coming up your driveway complete with a contingent of FBI agents led by Bill Gates.

One of the leading free packages is Open Office, a suite of programs that has been developed by some very smart volunteer programmers spread throughout the world. In fact, the code for these programs, rather than being a guarded corporate secrete, is available to anyone who wants to make improvements to the programs. As of this writing there have been more than 100 million downloads of the Open Office software.

The basic package available at www.openoffice.org contains a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation program, database program and a neat drawing program. All of them are compatible with MS Office. You can read and write files in Open Office and use those files in MS Office and visa versa. Open Office looks and feels much like Microsoft Office. You will find many of the same conventions, icons and tools. If you have used MS Word or Excel, you will need little or no training on Open Office.

Getting Open Office is a snap. Just set your browser to www.openoffice.org and follow the downloading directions. It will take about 20 minutes to download the programs and set them up on your computer.

Open Office has been around sine the late 1990s and is used by people all over the world. Since the development is ongoing there are new features and improvements offered through the Open Office website all the time.

Before you order that new version of MS Office, you may wish to give Open Office a try. What have you got to lose? You can’t beat the price.

Open Office Worth A Second Look

The prices of desktop and lap top computers continue to be very affordable. There are net books available for about $250 and desktops loaded with features for not too much more. Once you make the purchase you are often in for a surprise. The cost of the necessary software can be as much or more than the hardware. While operating systems like XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 come included in all but the most inexpensive computers, the software required to actually do something productive with your machine costs extra.

Even a basic suite of programs like Microsoft Office (Student Version) which contains MS Word, a word processor, Excel, a spreadsheet program and Power Point, a presentation program, costs about $150. If you want the deluxe edition, the price can go over $500. That is more money than many of us will pay for the new computer.

You may be surprised to learn that you have an option and do not need to purchase these expensive software packages. There are very good programs available free on the Internet. No, they are not pirated versions of Microsoft programs. If you download them you need not worry about seeing a black Chevy Suburban coming up your driveway complete with a contingent of FBI agents led by Bill Gates.

One of the leading free packages is Open Office, a suite of programs that has been developed by some very smart volunteer programmers spread throughout the world. In fact, the code for these programs, rather than being a guarded corporate secrete, is available to anyone who wants to make improvements to the programs. As of this writing there have been more than 100 million downloads of the Open Office software.

The basic package available at www.openoffice.org contains a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation program, database program and a neat drawing program. All of them are compatible with MS Office. You can read and write files in Open Office and use those files in MS Office and visa versa. Open Office looks and feels much like Microsoft Office. You will find many of the same conventions, icons and tools. If you have used MS Word or Excel, you will need little or no training on Open Office.

Getting Open Office is a snap. Just set your browser to www.openoffice.org and follow the downloading directions. It will take about 20 minutes to download the programs and set them up on your computer.

Open Office has been around sine the late 1990s and is used by people all over the world. Since the development is ongoing there are new features and improvements offered through the Open Office website all the time.

Before you order that new version of MS Office, you may wish to give Open Office a try. What have you got to lose? You can’t beat the price.

Where Did My Stations Go?

I have been getting questions about why some or all of the TV stations are disappearing from TVs that receive the channels over-the-air using an antenna. The stories are all the same. One day the person can watch all the local channels and change channels using the Up / Down button on the remote. The next day all or some of the channels are gone and the screen has a message indicating that “no signal is found.” This can be frustrating and very inconvenient if you are sitting down after a long day ready to relax with your favorite TV program.

The problem is not with the local broadcasters. The problem is indeed in your set.
Once you understand what has happened it is easily fixed.

Digital TVs and DTV set top converters all have a built-in memory. For the devices to tune in the over-the-air stations they must have in that memory certain information about the individual TV stations. This information, once gathered, is stored in memory circuits built into the devices. Some TVs have memory chips that must have electrical power to retain the information. Since power is required, if there is an interruption in the power the chip loses its memory. I know at my house hardly a week goes by without some interruption in Duke’s service. We had two last week. Often the outages are short but there are occasions when they do last an hour or more.

You don’t have to have a power failure. I know of one person who used the outlet supplying power to her TV for her vacuum cleaner. Each time she cleaned her living room she would unplug her DTV converter box. When she wanted to watch TV, the channels were gone.

Another person was very conscientious about saving energy so every time he was done watching TV he turned off all the power by using a power strip with an on/off switch. His laudable green lifestyle did not mesh well with his digital TV set as he lost all his channels every time he finished watching for the night.

Fixing this problem is simple. All you need do is rescan for channels. On most digital TVs and DTV converters, this “scan function” will be found by pressing “menu” on your remote. Every TV has different terms for this function but if you look for terms like “channel set up” or “auto program” I am sure you will find it.

Most high quality TVs and set top converters have memory chips that do not require them to be powered all the time. These models not only more reliably maintain the memory, they also save energy.

Where Did My Stations Go?

I have been getting questions about why some or all of the TV stations are disappearing from TVs that receive the channels over-the-air using an antenna. The stories are all the same. One day the person can watch all the local channels and change channels using the Up / Down button on the remote. The next day all or some of the channels are gone and the screen has a message indicating that “no signal is found.” This can be frustrating and very inconvenient if you are sitting down after a long day ready to relax with your favorite TV program.

The problem is not with the local broadcasters. The problem is indeed in your set.
Once you understand what has happened it is easily fixed.

Digital TVs and DTV set top converters all have a built-in memory. For the devices to tune in the over-the-air stations they must have in that memory certain information about the individual TV stations. This information, once gathered, is stored in memory circuits built into the devices. Some TVs have memory chips that must have electrical power to retain the information. Since power is required, if there is an interruption in the power the chip loses its memory. I know at my house hardly a week goes by without some interruption in Duke’s service. We had two last week. Often the outages are short but there are occasions when they do last an hour or more.

You don’t have to have a power failure. I know of one person who used the outlet supplying power to her TV for her vacuum cleaner. Each time she cleaned her living room she would unplug her DTV converter box. When she wanted to watch TV, the channels were gone.

Another person was very conscientious about saving energy so every time he was done watching TV he turned off all the power by using a power strip with an on/off switch. His laudable green lifestyle did not mesh well with his digital TV set as he lost all his channels every time he finished watching for the night.

Fixing this problem is simple. All you need do is rescan for channels. On most digital TVs and DTV converters, this “scan function” will be found by pressing “menu” on your remote. Every TV has different terms for this function but if you look for terms like “channel set up” or “auto program” I am sure you will find it.

Most high quality TVs and set top converters have memory chips that do not require them to be powered all the time. These models not only more reliably maintain the memory, they also save energy.

More Than A New Gadget

It has been hard to pick up a magazine or newspaper, watch a TV news program or listen to the radio without hearing some report about the release of the new iPad. Even Steven Colbert took the opportunity on his program to use an iPad to dice vegetables for salsa. As much as I would like to, I can’t make salsa with it and I really can’t review the iPad since I don’t have one and the chances of getting one soon are not good. But the major gurus of all things high tech like Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times have given the iPod their imprimatur.

The excitement over the release of the iPad, and not too long ago the release of its older sibling the iPhone, is really demonstrative of radical changes that have been happening in the way we do things in every day life. Not long ago these new electronic devices took years to become commonplace. For sure there were always the techies or geeks that would stand in line to buy anything new that had batteries and beeped. For most of us we waited. Today the time period from the release of a new device to the time it becomes indispensable has been reduced to a New York minute.

Just look around your house or office. How did you ever keep track of family members and their ever changing schedules and whereabouts without your cell phone? Need to take the dog to the new vet clinic? Where did I put that GPS? Term paper due Friday on the French Revolution? Google to the rescue. And of course keeping track of family members far from home is made easy with Facebook, email and Skype.

How long did it take from the time you first learned about the existence of the new technologies listed above to the time that they became essential to your daily routine? I am sure that it was much quicker than the time it took for you to get your first PC or even CD player once they were first introduced. Let’s not even think about the time it took for more than one or two people to use that invention of those two bicycle mechanics in Dayton.

So as the iPad and all the other tablet devices come to market, don’t be surprised how quickly they become a familiar and commonplace tool.

More Than A New Gadget

It has been hard to pick up a magazine or newspaper, watch a TV news program or listen to the radio without hearing some report about the release of the new iPad. Even Steven Colbert took the opportunity on his program to use an iPad to dice vegetables for salsa. As much as I would like to, I can’t make salsa with it and I really can’t review the iPad since I don’t have one and the chances of getting one soon are not good. But the major gurus of all things high tech like Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times have given the iPod their imprimatur.

The excitement over the release of the iPad, and not too long ago the release of its older sibling the iPhone, is really demonstrative of radical changes that have been happening in the way we do things in every day life. Not long ago these new electronic devices took years to become commonplace. For sure there were always the techies or geeks that would stand in line to buy anything new that had batteries and beeped. For most of us we waited. Today the time period from the release of a new device to the time it becomes indispensable has been reduced to a New York minute.

Just look around your house or office. How did you ever keep track of family members and their ever changing schedules and whereabouts without your cell phone? Need to take the dog to the new vet clinic? Where did I put that GPS? Term paper due Friday on the French Revolution? Google to the rescue. And of course keeping track of family members far from home is made easy with Facebook, email and Skype.

How long did it take from the time you first learned about the existence of the new technologies listed above to the time that they became essential to your daily routine? I am sure that it was much quicker than the time it took for you to get your first PC or even CD player once they were first introduced. Let’s not even think about the time it took for more than one or two people to use that invention of those two bicycle mechanics in Dayton.

So as the iPad and all the other tablet devices come to market, don’t be surprised how quickly they become a familiar and commonplace tool.

US Broadband Plan Overdue

Recently the FCC released its much anticipated strategy for addressing the United State’s failure to provide universally available and affordable high speed broadband services. It may come as a surprise to many that US citizens have much slower access to the Internet than many much smaller and less affluent nations. The RoadRunner or Zoomtown offerings that we have available from Time Warner or Cincinnati Bell would seem like “dial up” to someone in South Korea, France or even Portugal.

There are many reasons why many of these countries are ahead of us. Some governments have been quicker than others to see the importance of universally available high speed access to the Internet for their economies to prosper. Other countries are ahead of us since they do not have in place an extensive legacy infrastructure which must be integrated into any new one. This is certainly a big issue in our country. In fact many developing counties will never have a hard wired telephone system since the installation of a cellular system is more economical and quicker to deploy.

No matter the reasons for our current less-than-adequate system, the new FCC Broadband initiative does a good job of identifying the problems and suggesting steps that need to be taken to address them. It also articulates the tremendous importance to our economy to be leaders in the digital era. While the FCC can make recommendations, it will be up to the Congress to find the funds to actually make the changes.

There are four major areas of concentration in the FCC’s Broadband plan. The first calls for policies to ensure robust competition and investment in the private sector.

The second calls for the efficient allocation and management of government controlled assets, such as spectrum, poles, and rights-of-way, to encourage network upgrades to these assets. This includes examining the wireless bandwidth now allocated to broadcasters to see if some of those channels would be better used for wireless broadband instead of radio and TV transmissions.

The third recommendation calls for reform of current Universal Service policies so that broadband services will be made available in high cost areas; and ensure that low-income Americans can afford broadband. It also supports efforts to boost adoption and utilization. The Universal Service concept began some 60 years ago to make sure telephone service was available in rural parts of the country. Expanding it to broadband seems only logical.

Finally, the FCC plan calls for the reform of laws, policies, standards and incentives to maximize the benefits of broadband in sectors that the government influences significantly, such as public education, health care and government operations.

The release of this plan is only the beginning. Over the next few years much discussion and debate will center on improving the availability and speed of our Broadband networks. I’ll try to give you updates on this critical issue.

US Broadband Plan Overdue

Recently the FCC released its much anticipated strategy for addressing the United State’s failure to provide universally available and affordable high speed broadband services. It may come as a surprise to many that US citizens have much slower access to the Internet than many much smaller and less affluent nations. The RoadRunner or Zoomtown offerings that we have available from Time Warner or Cincinnati Bell would seem like “dial up” to someone in South Korea, France or even Portugal.

There are many reasons why many of these countries are ahead of us. Some governments have been quicker than others to see the importance of universally available high speed access to the Internet for their economies to prosper. Other countries are ahead of us since they do not have in place an extensive legacy infrastructure which must be integrated into any new one. This is certainly a big issue in our country. In fact many developing counties will never have a hard wired telephone system since the installation of a cellular system is more economical and quicker to deploy.

No matter the reasons for our current less-than-adequate system, the new FCC Broadband initiative does a good job of identifying the problems and suggesting steps that need to be taken to address them. It also articulates the tremendous importance to our economy to be leaders in the digital era. While the FCC can make recommendations, it will be up to the Congress to find the funds to actually make the changes.

There are four major areas of concentration in the FCC’s Broadband plan. The first calls for policies to ensure robust competition and investment in the private sector.

The second calls for the efficient allocation and management of government controlled assets, such as spectrum, poles, and rights-of-way, to encourage network upgrades to these assets. This includes examining the wireless bandwidth now allocated to broadcasters to see if some of those channels would be better used for wireless broadband instead of radio and TV transmissions.

The third recommendation calls for reform of current Universal Service policies so that broadband services will be made available in high cost areas; and ensure that low-income Americans can afford broadband. It also supports efforts to boost adoption and utilization. The Universal Service concept began some 60 years ago to make sure telephone service was available in rural parts of the country. Expanding it to broadband seems only logical.

Finally, the FCC plan calls for the reform of laws, policies, standards and incentives to maximize the benefits of broadband in sectors that the government influences significantly, such as public education, health care and government operations.

The release of this plan is only the beginning. Over the next few years much discussion and debate will center on improving the availability and speed of our Broadband networks. I’ll try to give you updates on this critical issue.