All about your Hotspot and what is POP

I mentioned in last weeks post about using an iPhone as a wireless Hotspot, as this is a post for newbies, I need to explain what this is for those who aren't quite sure. On most smart phones now, you have the ability to use your phone as a wireless network for other items like your laptop, iPad, PC (personal computer) etc. It is normally as easy as turning on the "Enable Hotspot" feature in your settings, once you have done this your phone will normally display a password to use for your newly created network and the "name" that the network is called. If you now look on your laptop at the available networks you will see a new network with the name that was given to you by your phone, press connect, put in the password you were given and you have Internet access!.

Like anything in this life there is always a catch, right!. First thing you need to do is make sure that in your phone plan or contract that your mobile provider "allows" the use of a mobile Hotspot, not all do. Also be aware of your monthly data limits, and your usage, using a laptop or PC will always use up a lot more of your data, than your phone will. Make sure that if you are going to connect a computer through your phones "hotspot" that it is not going to automatically download a heap of updates, or go and download all your emails to itself the moment it connects.

To clarify the email point, if you open all your emails on your computer from a program like "Outlook","Outlook Express" or "Incredimail", this means that these programs go and fetch your mail and bring it to your computer, where it is then stored (You may have noticed the term POP used for email accounts, this stands for Post Office Protocol, and that's what this is, it is like the Post Office and delivers the mail to your computer).
If you log into "Google", "Yahoo", "Windows Live" or some other service like that, it means that you are logging into their site to read your mail and that it is kept on their site. The main key there is that you have to go and Log into a site to read your mail, which means it is not getting fetched for you.

The last thing I want to talk about today is something I have mentioned before, and that is not to be freaked out or spooked by your tech device. Embrace it, take any spare time to sit down and play with it, explore through all the settings. If you are not sure what a word means "Google it". Apart from the words "Erase" or "Reset" there is not much damage you can do. Beware of  turning on "Location Services" or "Push Notifications" these will result in extra battery and data usage. A Push Notification means that as soon as something is available it is automatically (Pushed) sent to your phone, rather than you checking manually for the update, or your phone checking automatically at a set time interval.

Another good practice, is to always get rid of any "apps" you are not! or vary rarely use. These can slow your phone down substantially and chew up battery life.

Have Fun!

New Releases and Updates

Unless you have been on a deserted Island, you would have noticed that the new iPad was released last week. While some lined up for days to be one of the first to get their hands on one (Australia was among the first to take delivery), others just strolled into their shop that morning and grabbed one.

There is not a massive amount "new" about the latest release, the most outstanding feature is the new "retina display", for the non tech people this means it is really clear and crisp and may be zoomed right in and retain that clarity with out looking like square pixels. This display is better than all but the very high end in the television market, so if you are in to your games, pics, movies etc then you will love this latest feature. It is also thought to make a big impact for use in the medical world, with its clarity of image and ability to be zoomed to the finest detail.

The Other new features are an improved camera and faster processing while still maintaining battery life. The only problems I have heard to date is that when used for games or multiple apps at once, the device can become quite hot compared to previous models, but apple is denying that this is a problem. So this release, name still unknown,  iPad 3?, iPad 3rd gen?, so far it just called "the new iPad" is deemed to be an evolution not a revolution. No great need to upgrade from your iPad 2.

In other Apple news there is an update to iTunes version 10.6 and a new release for the mobile device operating system (phones, iPads, iPods ) version 5.1, that claims to contain 200 new features and bug fixes and most likely was released in time for the new iPad. I have held out on installing either of these at this stage, I work on the principle that unless there is an "outstanding" new feature, or a major security reason for the update, I will wait and see....

One issue I have heard from people that have updated their phone is that they are getting in fluxed with available Wireless Networks if they use their phone as a wireless hotspot. The phone is creating a new hotspot every time, instead of just showing up as the same one. So you would see "Tony's iPhone1, Tony's iPhone2 " etc instead of just seeing "Tony's iPhone" . One solution is listed to remove the smart quote from your phones name that is put there by default. (Tonys iPhone)
If you are connecting to your phones hotspot via a windows device, you can click on the icon for your phones wireless network, this will bring up a "network connection properties" box, in the corner of that box there is a "merge of delete network locations" link. You can open this up and then are able to merge or delete all the names for the same network from a list of all networks.

On a different subject, there appears to have been an influx of malicious links. emails, pictures and sites discovered in the past week, in other words click on any of these and your computer will be infected with malware or a virus.
I update the column of latest threats and scams as I hear about these threats, so it pays to pop on to the blog regularly to check. The most important thing to do, is to make sure your software ie: Windows, Apple Lion etc, and your Antivirus program are kept up to date, if possible make sure that important updates are automatically downloaded and installed.

On the operating system in Windows this is done by going into the control panel and clicking on the "Windows update" link and them selecting the required function. A Mac should automatically update as long as there is an Internet connection, and for your Antivirus, it should be set to automatically update, if it is not, open up the Antivirus Application and look for update options (remember google is your friend if you need help with this, just type in the exact question that you are thinking).

Email me if you have any problems and I will do my best to help.
Stay Safe Online

Emergency Phone charger and Cool wallpaper App

This week I am showing you a handy little Item, that I purchased recently for a hospital stay, I thought - well I don't really care if it doesn't last after that, but it has been a great little performer and a lifesaver. 

Now I never leave home with out my portable iPhone/iPad charger, this handy little device cost me less than $10 and has saved myself (and others) countless times. You charge it up just like you would your phone, carry it with you, then if your phone or iPad runs low on charge you simply plug the portable charger into it, and continue to use while it charges your device back to full charge. It is small enough and light enough that it doesn't hinder normal usage, apart from fitting in a normal size pocket when connected.

The particular one I have, which is listed below, had a series of blue lights to let you know how much charge it has left in it, and a light to let you know that it is fully charged, when you are charging it.
Portable Battery External Backup Charger Apple iPhone iPod 3G 4 4S  AUS  Same day Dispatch * AUS WARRANTY * AU $9.50, FREE POST
Link to Charger

I searched for a similar charger for other brands of phones and came up with this item, It is not from an Australian Seller like the other is, and I have never used this particular charger, so I can't vouch for its performance or reliability. Please make sure you check the voltage, and amperage output of  the charger before purchasing/using to make sure it is compatible with your particular  phone.
2800mAh UNIVERSAL EXTERNAL PORTABLE BATTERY CHARGER AU $14.76 plus AU $11.82 Postage
Link to charger

It is important to note that you don't use the phone with the portable charger, while you are recharging the charger. I know, why would you!, but some may think it is killing two birds with one stone.

And on a Quick note, I came across a great little app that was only released on iTunes yesterday, it is a free app that is the brainchild of two ladies, one of whom is responsible for the design of "The Blogess" and "Rocket Shoes", it gives you 200  professionally designed wallpapers based on everything from pop culture to worldwide travel.(yes I have a robot one already!) There are 260 more purchasable images from 0.99c to $1.99 and they plan to try and add a new collection every week. The images may be used on the lock screen and the home screen. The app is called Paper'd and is available in the iTunes App store.

Cookies and Pregnancy

There has been a lot of talk about privacy on the internet lately, with google changing its policies. How much do companies know about us? or how much should they know about us?.


There was a story in the US recently where Target sent a teenage girl some literature on products that would help her during her pregnancy and when her baby was born. The girls father was outraged, and confronted the local Target manager, who was clueless as well. The family was issued an apology, however soon after, the father had to give his own apology when the girl revealed that she was actually pregnant. How did Target know before the father did?


Its all part of the connected world we live in and "tracking". In this case target has managed to develop a very successful program that keeps track of shoppers purchases, it can determine that if a shopper is buying a certain range of products in succession, that the shopper is pregnant and can even accurately predict how far along she is by what products she is buying.


It is very rare now, that we do something in this world that no one knows about. Target keeps track of you through information gathered electronically of your card used during the sale, but how do people keep track of you online?, why is it you get adds delivered on pages you visit that seem to be about things you like?. 


There are little pieces of code called "cookies" that are placed on your hard drive when you visit websites on the internet. These bits of code are not programs, they can not take over your computer, as rumoured, they are usually a few lines of code that are a unique identifier for your computer and that website.


The cookie will let the page know that you have been there before, or that you logged in on the previous page, it might let an advertiser know that you clicked on their add, so the owner of the page can be paid for hosting the add. Some companies will gather information from the cookies to get an idea of what pages you click on, that way they know what sort of things you are interested in and can display advertising that is appropriate.


Cookies must not be confused with viruses or malware that can be loaded by clicking on pictures or adds, they are different types of scripts. 


It is very debatable whether these people have the right to track you on the internet, and a lot of people don't like it. The thing to keep in mind is that these people don't know that it is "John Smith from 15 internet st Google heights" that visited that page, like Target did, all they know it that computer AB19051 at ip address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx visited the site.


Contrary to movies and tv, it is extremely difficult to find out who someone is by their ip address (ip address is like your internet telephone number).


In summary, you need to remember that on the internet you get a whole lot of value for free, but nothing is for free, someone has to pay for it - hence the advertising, and advertising relies on cookies. Cookies are easy to disable, but if disabled they also stop features on websites from working properly.
If you are really concerned about who knows what you are doing on the internet, then be concerned about your internet provider, they know every where you have been and usually need to keep a record of it for an amount of time.