» 2010 » July Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

I Survived the Update to 3.0

July 13, 2010 — Mrs. Mecomber

Well, I took the plunge. To WordPress 3.0.

For you WordPress newbies out there, I remember the olden days, back… Ohhhh… TWO years ago before WP incorporated the automatic upgrade feature. Back then, we used to have to update our blogs manually. As in SAVE everything first. As in upload (via FTP) all the new files. As in “hold your breath and pray it doesn’t explode” updates. Nothing bad every happened to me, thankfully, (didn’t stop me from making billions of backups, though), but I heard horror stories about folks whose entire blogs self-destructed.

Anyway, it’s easier now. But the old terror still clings as I hit the “upgrade now!” button.

All’s well that ends well. I updated 12 blogs, and all are OK.

Whew.

Oh, and how is WP 3.0?

It’s OK. I don’t see much difference. They added some features that I don’t need, so its not much different besides the light blue color and the fact that my username doesn’t automatically save so I can log in (so I have to type it in each time)> What is up with that, anyway?

Posted in blogs, desktop publishing, Wordpress. Tags: blogging, updates, Wordpress. Comments Off »

Webcam and Video Messaging Comes of Age

July 2, 2010 — Mrs. Mecomber

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of faceVsion Technology USA. All opinions are 100% mine.

This is pretty cool. It’s the
FV touchcam N1. I’ve never been very fond of webcams, generally speaking, until I traveled without the kids and husband recently. The webcam became a very important tool– everyone missed the mom while I was away! The webcam helped ease the homesickness. And it also gave the kids the opportunity to look into my “travel” world and see everything around me. I’ve also utilized Skype for a few business and educational exploits, too. So I guess I am slowly making more use of the webcam and “video conferencing” more frequently as my career develops.

Unfortunately, the webcam and the software with it has been horribly slow. Most webcams that are labeled as “high definition” (HD) are pitifully inadequate. The images are blurry, the sounds jerky. The cam I used while traveling stuttered a lot, and the connection was very slow. So when I heard about faceVsion, I was interested.

Basically,the faceVsion TouchCam N1 is a superior, high-quality webcam with touch capabilities and extremely high-definition quality, allowing your webcam video to stream up to 720p. There’s a very good video on the website that showcases the webcam– nice!

The faceVsion webcam has an H.264 hardware encoder built in Touchcam N1, which enables true HD quality. So it’s great for travel and business use. There’s also something called the FV ExpressCombo that offers an express card so you can use the HD webcam even if you have a slower, less-powered CPU computer. Looks nice!

Webcams are not that expensive. If you use them a lot, or need one for business, spend a couple of extra bucks and get something NICE. There’s a faceVision on line store that has more information and products. The faceVsion TouchCam N1 is certified for Skype. It’s an easy, plug-and-play cam small enough for any laptop or desktop or monitor, and big enough in quality to really make you go wow. Cool!

Posted in chatty, computers, electronics, gadgets, networking. Tags: business services, webcam. Comments Off »

I Liked GoToMyPC

July 1, 2010 — Mrs. Mecomber

I tried GoToMyPC this week, while I was away on a trip. I liked it! I took part in the free trial for 30 days… after that, it’s $15 a month. Gulp. I rarely travel for long periods of time, so I don’t think I’ll be needing it anymore. But if I do start to travel extensively, I’ll probably use it.

I first heard about it from Kim Komando (GoToMyPC sponsors her). It was better than I thought it was– very easy to download, to run. The connection between the two computers seemed a little sluggish, but not too bad. GoToMyPC is not paying me at all, I’m merely mentioning then in case you need something like it.

Basically, GoToMyPC is a remote-controller. You install the program on your host PC. You must create an account and also a username and password to access the host computer. You can log in to your host computer while away, to access your email, bookmarks, passwords, etc. I found it very useful, and much more secure than entering in my personal data on a public machine or on a public WiFi connection that can be read by scammers.

You must leave your host computer ON while you are away, however. If you have power settings that shut off your hard drive while idle, you must turn this off.

So I give it a thumbs up. It was very easy and straighforward to use. However, $15 a month is really steep, especially when there’s LogMeIn which is absolutely free.