Apologies
Sorry I haven’t been around, but as well as writing this and another blog, I have also been teaching IT related subjects and going to Chisholm TAFE to get my Certificate IV in Web Based Technologies. The certificate has been keeping me busy by having me program in PHP, which I found I’m not a huge fan of. It might just be how it was handled with the subject, but I’m not a huge fan of it. Anyhow, now the classes are turned down until after the New Year, I can concentrate on my blogs and other interests.
We have had a web page for over 15 years now and have used HTML. This year, with the courses I’ve been taking, I’ve expanded it to include CSS and was looking forward to PHP. However, I’m still not sure on how it would help our webpage. Those of you who are designers of web pages, do you use PHP? Why or why not?
Gadgets for the Holidays
As we all know, the holidays are here in under 2 weeks! What did that sneak up on all of us or what? I have to admit, I did my researching for my husband’s gifts earlier and they were order by mid November. Now its just a waiting game to see if I get everything by Christmas. I also order some stuff in for my father in law; however, some of his stuff has come in and some hasn’t. I bet many people out there who ordered online are feeling the same way – will they arrive in time or not?
Further, I like my gadgets. I like playing with small objects which you’re not quite sure what will and won’t work. I’ve come across the below ideas for presents and they would be ideal if you have anyone that is hard to buy for.
WalletBurn
I found things on WalletBurn like a phone box rug. I know there are some HUGE Dr Who fans out there that would probably love this. There are some other things listed that are pretty cool too.
Tardis Rug as advertised in WalletBurn
This site had things like a Tardis Shower Curtain and an Operation game for Star War’s R2 D2. Now that’s COOL!
The game Operation Star Wars Style – on R2 D2!
The Gadget Flow
Love this one! It has enough odds and ends that I spent over 30 minutes looking around the site. One of the things that I would love to have would be a stand for mobile devices to all be charged at the same time
There are some clever ideas on this site. One would be something like below because most of us don’t eat in the mornings because we just don’t have the time…But this seems like it would be easy enough!
Toaster & Egg Poacher featured on Fancy
I’ve actually had a friend overseas complain about people eating or taking her lunch. I was telling her about a lock she can get (that I seen on this website too) and then I seen the product below. Maybe these would work?
Anti Theft Lunch Bag from Awesome Claus
I went through this site and its clever (because I hadn’t seen these products before) but they didn’t interest me as much as some of the other sites I’ve seen. Still, its worth looking at if you have someone that’s hard to buy for (an example would be for a vivid golfer you can get something like the product below).
Golf Clock through Open Sky
This is another website that had me spending a bit of time. There are things here I haven’t seen any place else. How cool would this be if you traveled a bit?
A Micro Luggage Skate Scooter
This is a great idea for people like us who when we travel or go walking around to many places could use it. It actually powers your portable devices by the portable battery you can plug them into while you are walking or working. We are family genealogists and we go around to many places and it would be great that while we were on the move or while we were talking to others about topics, subjects, and people we had this handy.
Powered up backpack
Kids
CNN did a small little highlight on different things you can get the kids. The article lists and links to products and you can read it here.
Update on Tablets
Mashable has also updated their views on Tablets and you can read it here. I have been checking out a few of these products as I’ve mentioned them a few weeks ago in this blog. I do like the Surface 2 Pro, but I’m not willing to spend the cost and it’s still a bit bigger than I wanted. I love how it’s almost like a small pc in what you can do and connect to it. I have asked Santa to get me an iPad Mini, but these are still a good chunk of change and are limited as to what you can connect to.
Holiday Scams
Tis the season to shop but also for people to take advantage of you. Please be very aware of the following:
Mobile Apps – Read or fake? The new thing this year is for scammers to set up a mobile app which you download and use without knowing that its all fake. Only use trusted app sites (like Apple and Microsoft) to download apps.
SMS Message Scams – These are when scammers get your mobile devices and send an SMS to you or clicking on a link you think is real. Either of these will make your information accessible on your device and leave you vulnerable. This is also called ‘SMiShing’ which is text message phishing.
Hot Holiday Specials – These are when the latest and greatest are all of a sudden cheap and ready for you. Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!
Holiday Travel Specials – Yes, everyone seems to be having a sale around this time of the year. However, if you find a travel spot which is suddenly cheap and waiting for you – it’s probably a scam unfortunately. Again, make sure you check specials with vendors you trust. There’s never any harm in checking the facts out.
Free & Paid for Electronic Greeting Cards – I fell victim to this a few years ago. You go looking for the newest and greatest in electronic greeting cards and before you know it, something is loaded onto your machine from these free E card sites. They then wait until after you’ve sent out the card and then infect your computer. But better than that, they also give their giving gift of infecting whomever you sent the E card too as well. Be careful!
These above are the most common of new types. However, you still have the normal, every day scams too – Online games, Emails and SMS regarding Shopping times and specials, bogus gift cards, fake charities, romance or dating online scams, and online retailers that are phony. The ones I’ve listed here are the “norm” but it’s always a good reminder to keep an eye out for these at this time of the year when everyone is shopping online more and more.
Jo Ann Fitzgerald's Professional IT Blog 