Bill Engvall’s Guide to Social Media “Here’s Your Sign”

Paul

Social Media is a Mess Sometimes!

When I started my journey into the social media, I have heard some really strange rumors and even some claims that real but aren’t!  For instants some of these are something like this:

 

“Pope Benedict resigned to avoid arrest, seizure of church“

Obamacare Requires RFID chip implanted in all of us

Facebook Closed February 29th, 30th, 31st!

Hover of my Name Hoax

As you can see some of these are obviously fake or made to fool people to have people like and share these stories because they are so out rageous.

Stupid People on Social media should put a sign on their profile “Don’t listen to me!”

I hate stupid stories and I created this guide to help determine these types of stories.  I know I am basically talking about Facebook right now because it seems to be the widely used social media outlet right now.

  • Think before you share! — Consider all possibilities and if it angers you then cool down before you share it!
  • Research rumors or Stories — If you just take what people tell you and don’t look into yourself then you shouldn’t be my friend!
  • Check Sources — Sometimes friends like to add links that aren’t really that relevant to the story to make it look real or they share what others have said with those links just because they don’t know better.   It is best to always check sources but this is sometimes should be avoided.   Only click links you trust.
  • Not everything on the Internet is TRUE! — Here is something else you must understand.  Anyone in Anywhere can blog about what ever they want and it doesn’t have to be true.  Yes I know, there reputations may look genuine but that doesn’t always mean they are honorable.

As you can see these are just a few ways to help weed out those unsavory stories that aren’t quite true but in the long run, if you don’t make the effort to stop them they will never stop.   If everyone does this, then those types of stories will not circulate.

The Next one I see!

I’ll be starting my own little campaign to help weed out these by coping and pasting this into every story that I find to be false:

Here’s YOUR Sign — Social Media over hyped and uneducated goes to <name>  http://bit.ly/HeresUrSign

As you can see this is an attempt to help educate my friends and family when they do share something that isn’t quite right or accurate.  Although this might make them mad, at least it will get the truth out and I do hope you do the same thing and help stop some of the nonsense that goes on in any Social Media outlet.   

Paul Sylvester

 

Why Tablets are Booming! [Informational Graphic]

Paul

 

Tablet’s being used in Jobs!

251936_Tablet Insurance 300x250As I was going to make this post up, I had a really good experience with what the Informational Graphic depicts.   As you can see there is a lot going on.  I thought we would at least break this down a little and hopefully make you understand just how they are being used.   If anything we can discuss some of the aspects from some of my previous posts as points to this new booming lifestyle people are taking up.

Mobile Productivity is on the Rise!

Although this isn’t hard to believe that people are looking to buy Tabelts for business purposes.  Actually they have started to ask me in my local area which tablet is right for my business.  I have on occassion even helped them consult with them on this very aspect.  So I do know a thing or two about tablets.  I do not know everything about them but I can pretty much help you find the right one for what you may need it for.

Tablets are being used by Youths!

This isn’t really a surprise on my part because my niece and nephews are all using 7″ tablets right now and they are only 11 years old.  So that part I bet isn’t really going to surprise anyone.   I even have a few good gaming apps for the android OS if your wondering.  I really can’t say much else about this because I don’t really have a lot more to say about this graphic.   It however is quite showing just how much demand there is for tablets in the workplace.  Please feel free and share this with your friends and family.

Paul Sylvester

Balancing Act between Technology and Lifestyle!

Paul

Balancing Act

Technology is a Balance!

It isn’t everyday that you hear people say that they have to balance work, family, and Technology.   Technology has never been in demand like it has today.    Everyone can say they do it really easily but it isn’t always that simple or some would just stretch the truth.   Truth be told no one ever thought it would be this difficult to keep up with technology and keep themselves involved with their kids and work. 

Human Error!

267232_300x250USA

Human error is always going to be a problem because no one can do the job a 100% that being said we have seen in the past where Human error can cause data lose.  That though isn’t as big as keeping your data safe from those bad guys that would love to find out all that personal information from your tablet or computer.   Some would say that Facebook has problems too, and I would tend to agree but it isn’t the end all to keeping your information safe from Identity Thefts.

Protecting your Data!

I am sure most people will say that it is impossible, I tend to agree but we can at least make it harder for someone to get that data that they want to use against you or just to see what you’ve been up.   Here are a few things you can do to make it that much harder for someone to get that information!

  • Encrypting your Data — You can do this from several different ways.   It just depends on how you want to proceed.  If your an Android user you have several options to encrypt your device.  I won’t go into much detail on how because each device is a little different but you know where you can start!
  • Password Manager — This has been something that I tell people every time I see someone’s account being hacked.   If you don’t have a strong password than you can’t possibly keep people from gaining access.   I suggest using Lastpass and even tell people to invest in Yubikey also!
  • Back up your data — It isn’t easy but it is Essential to keep your data backed up because you never really know what will happen and you should always try to keep at least three or four different backup options.   This way if one fails you have a redundancy to help you keep your data from getting lost!

How to Balance Life with Technology!

Here is something you probably are very interested in learning.   I only have one rule when it comes to this and it is something that I have to work at each and every day.   I have come to the conclusion to set time limits on when I use my computer and when I am using technology.   I will not use it all the time and I will not miss being with my kids.   I am sure you have the same problem as me and that is why you were looking for this answer but it isn’t like it will help you because it is all about discipline and you only gain that by doing this every day in school, work, or home.  One tip that I can help you with this is, set a limit and slowing each week or day take a minute off until you get to that limit.   It will be a slow process but it will be a rewarding one at the end.

Paul Sylvester

 

Reviewing the Kyocera Rise by Virgin Mobile!

Paul

What about the HTC Inspire 4G!

I recently had to buy a new phone.   My HTC inspire got broken, sad to say but it does happen.   You know when you have to replace a  phone because of the screen glass is broken, kind of thing you don’t like to see happen.   It does though no matter how hard you try, it will happen eventually on most phones. Thank Good for the Worth Ave Group insurance coverage for Cell Phones, if i didn’t have that it would of been a pain to get this Cell phone.

A lot under the Hood!

There is a lot going on under that hood and I won’t go into much detail about this because I don’t want to bore you with details but what I will tell you is this:

  • Google Movies & TV — You can watch any show you own on Google with this little device.   So you can always keep up with shows or movies while on the Go!   I do suggest downloading them whenever possible using WIFI but it is still good to have while on the road!
  • Netflix — Although most phones do this it has the screen size to actually do a decent enough job of watching it through it!
  • Android 4.0 — I got mine with Android 4.0 but it had to be upgraded in firmware.   That is ok, it still is a nice phone!

The Kyocera Rise From Virgin Mobile is in fact a very good Phone.   I got signal where the HTC never did, although this is a 3G phone, it is still can go a lot more places.   I suspect it is because of the Sprint Network but it is only a guess.

I could go on and on about this phone but in all truth if you aren’t convinced now to buy it then you will never buy it.   I simply love this phone and it is going to be my main phone for quite a while until I can get enough money for even better phone maybe a Samsung Galaxy S3 or S2 from Virgin Mobile or Sprint, now that would be Sweet!

Paul Sylvester

2400 Baud — A walk down Memory Lane!

Paul

discs-n-modem

Those were the days!

267232_300x250USASome of you probably are to young to remember some of the stuff that I’ve seen and others probably know more than what they let on.   In this article, we are going to go back in time and discuss some of this that you probably don’t remember or remember vividly.   Depending on old you are, this could be a walk down memory lane or you could learn something that you never knew.   Either way, you will want to share this with your friends and maybe they can learn something too.

What is or was a BBS?

Before we had the internet, we’d have to call a BBS [Bulletin Board System] and connect to the Intranet.   It was a way to find out information or play ASCII Games.   They had their own newsgroups through a network such as FidoNet.  Anyone who is old enough to understand this will tell you this was cutting edge stuff in those days.   I used to watch Star Trek and dream of some of the stuff they’d create in the future.   Well it happened and I am really glad I saw the first data pad.

That used to be the ASCII Art for Fidonet, but it has changed it still looks really cool!

Speeds!

Before we had Cable Companies and DSL modems we had 300, 1200, 2400, 28.8, 56k baud modems.   What we have now is light years faster than what we had in those days.  That was why we used ASCII Art all the time, it was way faster and we really didn’t know how to do some of the stuff with HTML then like we do now.   Although loading images and downloading programs or files was a really LONG process could take up to an hour for a 10 meg file.   You’d also have to have a dedicated line to dial out on or by chance someone would pick up the land line and kill your connection.

My Old System!

When I first began using a computer, I had a TI-994a system man was that an old system for some.   It was in competition with the Commodore 64.  Each one had their uses and could be very picky with loading programs.  Some of them you used a TAPE to load the programs onto the system.   Again you’d have to be old enough to remember those days but it was nothing like we had with Hard Drives and available space we have today.   

I did this post because I was feeling a little nostalgic and thought it was a good time to remember some of the things we did then to get to where we are now.   I do hope you learned a little bit about old technology and hope you will share it for others to learn just what it was like in the early 1990’s to 2000’s.   

Paul Sylvester