Tuesday, November 05, 2013

The Case Against Gmail and Healthcare.gov

Sorry about not publishing last week. I went out of town for a few days and wound up staying much longer than I anticipated. I hope you forgive me.

But, I am back and have collected some good articles to improve your computer knowledge. You may have noticed I changed the layout of this blog. Instead of running the occasional special editions on portable computing, I am now including them and regular computing articles in every edition. Too many of us are using desktop, laptops, tablets and smartphones every day so I decided to put the most interesting articles for all devices in one place. And, to be clear, you will not be cheated on the number of stories. More work for me, but, what the hell! I’m retired.

Like many of you I’ve been following the news on Obamacare and its disastrous Web site. I normally ignore most news stories since I retired, but I’ve always had a fascination with stupidity, especially on such a monumental scale…and that is what the Obamacare Web fiasco is. I won’t go into the non-web related stories on this subject…except to say if they can’t create a Web site that works, what makes you think they can handle the medical insurance needs for a whole nation?

There are two interesting stories I will call your attention to by ZDNet writer Ed Bott…a reporter I greatly respect. He wrote two pieces on the problems with Gmail and why he has left their services. The second article is a how-to in case you wish to do it also. Both articles are worth the read…as are the rest of the articles here.

Well, enough of me…its time for you to get started. Thanks again for reading this blog. -JRC

News

HealthCare.gov costs show that feds have literally no idea how to build a big web site

Could you build a working website for $300 million?

The so-called 'death of the PC'

Is the PC dying? Not really. It's more to do with that users now have choice about which tools they use

FAA green-lights gadget use during entire flight

Agency expects airlines to begin letting you use your electronic devices -- in airplane mode -- from departure to arrival by the end of the year.

Adobe security breach actually affected closer to 38 million users

That hack attack on Adobe's user base has turned out to be a lot more serious than originally revealed. The original announcement said only 3 million users were affected.

Desktop and Laptop Computing

The case against Gmail

Gmail was a breath of fresh air when it debuted. But this onetime alternative is showing signs that it's past its prime, especially if you want to use the service with a third-party client. That's the way Google wants it, which is why I've given up on Gmail after almost a decade.

How I switched from Gmail to Outlook.com (and how you can too)

So long, Gmail, it was nice knowing you. After nearly a decade, I've finally moved my personal email away from Google's service. If you're considering doing the same, here's a step-by-step guide to help you set things up the right way.

Microsoft: Productivity Web apps improve with IE11

Pasting a photo or a formatted list into a browser-based word processor isn't as fun as playing Hover online, but Microsoft still made the mundane chores a little better in its browser.

How to Erase Yourself From the Internet

If your growing weariness of being constantly tethered to the internet has become overwhelming, it might be time to scrub yourself from the social media sphere altogether.

Browser Care: All-In-One Maintenance Tool For Chrome, Firefox & IE

Auslogics Browser Care is yet another great tool that aims to mark its name in this genre by letting you get rid of unwanted add-ons and toolbars, reset your browser home page and search engine, and clean up temporary browser data. Even better, it supports Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer all in a single package.

How to Fix an Annoying Windows USB Problem

Do you ever find that sometimes one of your USB ports won’t work? You might have a bad USB port but there is another possible cause of USB problems and here is an easy way to fix it."

Portable Computing

iPad Air benchmarks show 80 percent speed bump over iPad 4

The new iPad comes close to doubling the performance of its predecessor, according to Primate Labs.

Introducing Kindle First—Exclusive Early Access to New Books

Customers can read one of next month’s new releases today. Choose one title to read early for $1.99; Prime members choose one title for free

Just How Bad Are Android Tablet Apps?

It’s clear that Apple’s iPad is way ahead when it comes to the sheer quantity of tablet-optimized apps. It’s also clear that some popular apps — particularly touch-optimized games — only show up on iPad. But that’s not the whole story.

Get ready for the $50 Android tablet Black Friday 2013 deal

Specials from Walmart and Toys "R" Us list no-name 7-inch slates for cut-rate prices coming for the holiday shopping season. Will you be buying one?

Android 4.4 gives apps vastly better Web technology

Apps that draw upon the browser engine now have modern options like video chat and 3D graphics in Google's new KitKat release of Android.

Let go of that laptop: the ultimate guide to making a tablet your main computer

With the tablet’s lighter weight, longer battery life, and near-instant boot-up, the building blocks of a productivity engine are already there

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