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Tech News & Commentary
Lee in Ohio listening on CLKW 800 asked us: “I’m wondering what’s the best way to dispose an old computer as how to wipe off the hard-drive and get your information off of it before taking it to a recyclable event.”
Lee, When backing up all your information, you can use either a USB-drive or hard drive or even a cloud service such as Dropbox, iCloud, or Microsoft Skydrive. With cloud services, an account is required for use of the service. Once you backup all your data, you need to wipe the hard-drive using a secure wiping program which can be found on the internet for free. A great safe software you can use is DBAN which will overwrite your hard-drive.
When someone decides to recycle, they do it out of good intention, but when it comes to electronic waste, it gets a little tricky. Many e-waste recycle companies don’t necessarily recycle the electronics.
If you want to properly dispose your computer in the most eco-friendly way possible, please consider e-Steward, a non-profit organization intended to prevent e-waste dumping in developing countries. You can visit e-stewards.org to find a certified recycler around you.
Now another way to destroy the data would be to get violent with the hard drive by bashing it to pieces with a hammer. This way you’ve gotten some tech rage out, and you won’t have any worries about anyone retrieving data the stored on the hard drive. If you plan to donate it to a charity or just want to recycle it without destroying it, than looking into the software to remove the data will be the best route.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Consumer Reports Feature With James McQueen
In 2013, approximately 3.1 million Americans were victims of smart phone theft, nearly double the year before. Consumer Reports electronics spokesman James McQueen is here with simple ways to avoid having it happen to you.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Mark recommends: Hodor Keyboard, FREE
- “Accept no substitutes. Hodor would pay a dollar. You know it’s true. Be like Hodor. Say Hodor. Hodor hodor hodor. Hodor. Hodor hodor hodor hodor. — Long press for maximum Hodor. — Swipe left to unHodor a Hodor. — Swipe right to delete a character (make sure you delete the ones everyone loves first!) Extra bonus: If your passwords are Hodor, this is by far the fastest way to log in. Supports all languages. Here are some kind words from people who love Hodor Keyboard! “Hodor Keyboard is the best $1 you’ll spend this week” – androidandme.com “Could you type “Hodor” yourself, copy and paste it over and over again to accomplish the same thing? Well yeah, if your name is JOFFREY!” – IGN “Hodor hodor hodor HODOR hodor hodor Hodor hodor” – Android Central “This is a keyboard you need in your life” – Android Police “Hodor hodor hodor hodor, hodor hodor hodor hodor hodor hodor. Hodor hodor hodor” – The Verge”
• Michael recommends: GAIN Fitness, FREE
- “My app this week is one for you workout buffs or those who want to stay fit and healthy. It’s GAIN Fitness which like having a personal trainer in your pocket. THe workout is based on what you want to do whether it’s staying healthy, build muscle, or lose weight, and where you plan to workout, in addition to you age, weight and height. These workouts have been compiled from many Fitness Trainers from Pilates, CrossFit, circus arts and yoga. You can advance your workout even more by going to Packs on the app and either selecting FREE or purchasing packs for $6.99. I found this handy because it customized to my needs and what I had available at home for workout equipment. This app is available in the iTunes App Store for FREE!” — Michael
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
- Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Guest Segment:
Michael Kende, Chief Economist – The Internet Society
Lois in Selma, North Carolina listening on WPTF 680 AM asked us: “Hi, I have an e-reader and I need to update to a Kindle. Do you have any idea on the best place or what I should do? I just have a regular Kindle.”
Lois, You have a few Kindles you can choose from depending on what you want to do.
Do you want to just read? If that’s the case, you can go for a regular Kindle, which costs about $69 with “offers” which is what Amazon calls ads, or $89 without. The ads do not show up while you’re reading only when you’re selecting an eBook and while the device is locked.
According to Amazon, single Kindle can hold over 1000 books at a time, it weighs next to nothing, have batteries that may last you a month between recharges if you don’t read too fast, and the screen is very much like paper and you can read it just as well inside or under the bright sun. You can also choose the Kindle Paperwhite which has a whiter background and a backlight for reading in the dark, and the Paperwhite 3G which always has a data connection to sync how far you’ve read and download new titles, those start at $119 and $189 respectively.
If you’re interested in doing more than just reading, you can get a Kindle Fire. There are 4 different models ranging in price from $119 to $399 dollars, and can do most of what any tablet can do: web browsing, email, books, games, music, video, etc. As far as tablets go, they’re a little more rigid than some competitors, but they sell for a really great price, and if you’re interested in more than just reading, and you if will be doing your reading mostly inside and away from direct sunlight, they can be great options.
You’d be giving up the sun-friendly screen and the ridiculously good battery life, but gaining greatly in functionality, getting a high definition screen that can display much more than just text and black and white images, and you may find it replacing a computer for a lot of tasks.
If you’re not used to reading on screens, try a tablet before you buy one, it’s not the same, a Kindle is very similar to paper and it’s much easier to adapt to one.
Whichever one you decide on, you can get them on Amazon.com, since they make them, but you can also see one in person near you before you make up your mind.
You can find one to play with around you, however you won’t find Amazon showrooms on the list, just an Amazon forum to try to get current owners together with potential future owners to try out the devices, depending on where you live that may be more or less likely to succeed, but ask around, a lot of people have Kindles and Kindle Fires and they would probably let you play with one.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
Patrick in Wilmington, Delaware listening on NewsTalk Radio WDEL 1150 sent us the following comment: “I have a new Windows Surface Tablet, and it takes pictures both ways. It does not have a flash. How can I enhance taking pictures without a flash?”
Patrick, Unfortunately there is no way you can enhance the picture that way while you are taking it but after taking the picture you can download a photo editing app that will let you adjust the brightness, contrast, sharpness and many more options that will enhance the picture. Photo Editor by Aviary is a great editing application that does the job and is FREE!
You can also check out the Windows RT version of Adobe Photoshop Express. It’s not as good as the Photoshop Touch for iOS and Android, but it does have an interface that’s familiar to Photoshop users.
Fotor is another free photo editing app for Windows RT. It offers the same editing features as the other, but also lets you create photo collages and use a tilt/shift tool to change perspective in the image.We can’t do anything about your lack of a flash, but hopefully some good photo editing tools will brighten your day!
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Other World Computing (OWC): NUGUARD KX – Kinectic Energy X-Orbing Case for iPad Air
Phone Halo: StickR TrackR — Find any object you attach it to with your smartphone
Bits Limited: Mini Squids — Travel-Sized surge protected power strips
Tylt: ENERGI Sliding Power Cases for iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4.
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!