Tag Archives: PC

Computer Maintenance For The Writer

computer and writersby Catherine L. Tully

Every now and then I like to write a post on maintaining your writing instrument–the computer. If you want to have it act right, you need to treat it nice.

Here are some tasks that should be done on a regular basis, along with links with some directions, just in case you don’t know how to perform the task:

Defragment your hard drive. Think of this as “housecleaning”.

Back up your computer. If you don’t have a system for this yet, it’s time. All you have to do is have things crash once to make this oh-so-worthwhile.

Back up your e-mails. Didn’t know you had to do this? If you use Outlook, you need to back up what is called a .pst file, otherwise you are not going to have your e-mails if there is a problem. The server will only archive them for so long, so be sure to do this and then burn to a DVD or back up on other media. It won’t automatically back up when you back up the computer, so do this step too.

File e-mails in folders. This one is pretty self-explanatory, but people don’t do it. Keeping up with your e-mail is key when it comes to running a good freelance writing business. Being able to find an e-mail can mean the difference between looking pro and looking slow.

Clean up. Use anti-static wipes to clean your screen and blow out the keyboard with compressed air.

Take out the trash. Empty your recycle bin.

This is a simple guide for PC users. I’m not a Mac, so if anyone cares to leave a tip or two for Mac users, I wouldn’t complain. ; )

MacBook Reviews

credit apple

 

by Catherine L. Tully

Recently I went back and forth between a Mac and a PC and finally settled on a Dell XPS (which I love) as my writing machine. Still, the Mac has an appeal for many, and today I’d like to share with you a page from CNET where you can find some great reviews on a few of the Apple laptops that are out there. CNET does product reviews well, so be sure and browse their site any time you are looking to make a big purchase on gear for your office.

Be The Coolest Kid On Your Block

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Ready to be “wowed”? PicLens gives you some serious power over the photo search. This program can be downloaded for free and enables you to quickly (and oh so very smoothly) fly through photos on the web at lightspeed. You’ll feel like the coolest person around when you scroll through images, browsing them as fast as you like. The program works with a number of photo sites (such as Flickr and Photobucket), social networking sites (such as MySpace and Facebook) and image searches on Google, Yahoo, Ask, AOL and Live Images. It works on PC or Mac computers, but you’ll need Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox to use it. Watch the demo on the site to see just how amazing this is–you’ll feel like you’ve been transported into the future….

Do you use WordPress? Go to the site and download a plug in that will enable you to add full-screen slideshow capability to your blog. Is that cool or what?

(And yes–I have a pretty amazing technology source–keep checking in for more….)