“Beam Me Up” BING

Bing is continuing to honor Star Trek (and promote the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, the latest in the Star Trek film franchise) by boldly going where no homepage has gone before.

By entering the famous Star Trek “beam me up” phrase, Bing transports users to an interactive image of the Starship Enterprise traveling through space.

From the images, users can click on a variety of links that takes them deeper into more classic Star Trek images, trivia and links to videos.

It’s geeky, which makes it cool!

No Clue on the Cause of Honeybee Deaths

It has been awhile since I reported on New Bees?, BioTech for Bees, Buzz Of Disappearing Bees and Bee Buzz Update. So how are the little fuzzy flying buzzing bees doing with their fungus and Colony Collapse Disorder? Really, not much of a change.

According to a comprehensive federal study published on Thursday, the devastation of American honeybee colonies is the result of a complex stew of factors, including pesticides, parasites, poor nutrition and a lack of genetic diversity.

The report does not place more weight on one factor over another, and recommends a range of actions and further research.

Sure, that’s what will fix this, more years and years of research.

 

GMAIL BLUE

“How do we completely redesign and recreate something while keeping it exactly the same?” Thanks GMAIL BLUE!

Which Star Trek Character Are You?

A while back I took the Which Super Hero Are You test and passed as Superman! With Star Trek Into Darkness a few months away, it is time to ask, What Star Trek Character Are You?

Although the quiz doesn’t have the latest and greatest of characters, it’s nice to know I am skilled in knowledge and logic.

Which Star Trek Character are you?

Google Animated Images

Google just announced that you can now filter image searches to only find “Animated” images. Do your image search, then click “Search tools” (under the search box),  Click on the  ”Any type” menu, then on “Animated”.  Fun!

Happy Spring Equinox!

Office 2013 Upgrade Now Available

The next version of Office is now available for those of you who bought Office 2010 and are looking for your Upgrade Guarantee.

Click on Redeem now and fill out Country, Product Key, Accept and Verify:

You are ready to download?? And therein lies the rub… there is a catch, sure there is. You need to sign up for Office 365 for 3 months, whether you want that or not. So no, you don’t just get the stand-alone application.

You have to Sign In to a Microsoft account to continue, so I used an old hotmail account and clicked on Select.

I selected my Country and Language and had no choice but to agree to additional marketing from Microsoft: Microsoft Office will be contacting you with surveys, promotions, tips and advice for using our products and services. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information on our communications options, please see our Privacy and Cookies Notice.

And finally, the INSTALL.

It dropped a 585kb “Click To Run” exe and that’s all you get. I’m sure once you click on the Setup.exe, it will install Office 2013, but I am waiting to implement Office 2013 with Windows 8.

UPDATE! I found where you can download the software. It is under your account settings under frequently asked questions.

That appears to be a continuous loop and you can only order a disc for $15.11. Ok, that’s enough nonsense for me this morning.

UPDATE: I have gone back to the account and am now able to download the *.img file.

Upgrade to Windows 7 Now

We recommend that you begin planning to update your outdated and legacy Windows XP/Vista computers, regardless if those computers are still working.

Microsoft announced that 2014 will be the official end-of-life for Windows XP. Windows XP is the most commonly used PC operating system in the world today, and we certainly still have many clients operating on this platform.  Windows XP was first released in 2001 which means this platform is 12 years old – and that is a very long time in the world of technology.

Security Risk

In the first half of 2012, Windows XP SP3 computers were infected at a rate almost three times higher than Windows 7 computers.  Much has changed since its release in 2001 and XP is simply too antiquated to combat modern-day hackers and virus writers.

via Malware Infection Rates by Microsoft Security Blog

 

Technical Support

In April 2009, Microsoft moved Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) from “Mainstream Support” to “Extended Support”.  This means that Microsoft will continue to provide regular security updates, but technical support, warranty claims and design changes are no longer being offered.

Upgrade to Window 7

Many older PCs are simply not powerful enough to run Windows 7, and even if they are, the investment to upgrade may exceed the value of the computer.  Certainly, for computers that are at least four years old, it is more cost-effective to replace them with new computers that have Windows 7 pre-installed.

Start Planning Now

This is not something that needs to happen overnight, but if you start planning now then you could potentially phase this migration over a number of months spreading the cost of your technology spend.

If you would like to start planning for your Windows 7 migration, please give tech3Support a call today!

Note* – Windows 8 is not a recommended upgrade at this time.

Painted Skies Theme for Windows 7

The sky appears as nature’s canvas, painted with moments of power and serenity.  17 beautiful pictures of the sky, captured by photographer Brook Burling. A free Windows theme!

Wounded Inflatables

Every year I figure that the holidays bring a little bit more peace and joy to the world, if not just for a few more minutes than we typically see throughout the year. Goodwill, giving, and the holiday spirit.

But when you click on the story link below, you’ll know that the dastardly gremlins are out there and they continue to rampage with total disregard of our simple pleasures and treasured moments.

Have they no shame?

Thanks go to Carol for putting this together with me years ago! Over 7,000 views! (Do you remember what channelOHAB stands for?)

Send a Personalized Call From Santa

It’s that time of year again! Time to have Santa send a call to your friends, family, co-workers…

It’s a bit different this year with you “chatting” with Santa to setup your call, so make your selections carefully because editing is a bit cumbersome.

And Santa still finishes up the call with either gassing up the sleigh, cleaning out the garage or my favorite, getting some “me time”. (I just like the way he says that) Go send your call out today!