All Things Pondered Here

Pondering Many Things....

IT Support

Apple Care Protection Plan Update

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I want to add a new post about Apple care protection.  I wrote about my experience before, regarding a battery replacement.

I now have around 160 days left of Apple Care Protection on my MBP (Mac Book Pro)  that I bough in October of 2010.

I am delighted to report they again honored the Apple Care Protection to replace a bad track pad element.

This was done at the Apple Store in Frankfurt, Germany.     My MBP  and I are both from the US.

So,  the protection plan works across country borders!

I also want to report that I first attempted to go to a reseller store that was closer than the Frankfurt store.   The reseller was perfectly aware that I still had Apple Care Protection.   But, instead of fixing my MBP they told me that it was my fault and that it would cost about 110 Euros to fix, which is about $143 dollars at the time of this writing.

Not only did the Apple Store honor my protection plan and fix it for FREE.  They also told me that the total parts and labor cost would have only been $63 Euros or about 82 Dollars at this writing.

So, I saved myself the equivalent of about 143 dollars  minus the equivalent of $39 for two trips to Frankfurt.

I guess the lesson is to beware of resellers!     Just go to the Apple Store whenever in doubt!

 I manage my store and blog from my MBP at ToothyGrinsStore.com

Using OSX 10.8.2 – Mountain Lion To Send A Picture To Your Twitter Followers

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This is a cool trick that I think did not exist in Mountain.  So, was it worth it to upgrade to Mountain Lion?

It seems like it was.  My system seems to be running a bit better as well.

This same trick can be used to send pictures to your Facebook profile as well.

Strangely though, the ability to send something to google + does not exist.

That would be cool as well.

What social media are you using?

 

 

How To Do Screen Image Capture on Mac OSX 10.8.2 Mountain Lion Video

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Video:

 

This is a handy little trick to know.   Some people buy separate applications just do this.  They don’t realize that the capability is built into their Mac.   If you learn a few tricks here and there, your life will be easier and you won’t spend money on applications that you don’t need.

When you consider that applications sometimes need to be updated, it can get even more expensive.  With Mac OS , it is very likely that this little trick will always be there.  It really does make life a bit easier.

Enjoy and share this trick – especially with those who have purchased a certain screen image capture software – I won’t name them by brand…

 

Unable to Synch Podcasts From ITunes To My Ipod…

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Podcasts Not Synching

synching Ipod to podcastsI recently purchased a new IPOD.    The first time I synchronized it, the podcasts did not synch the way they did on the old Ipod.

I didn’t realize the problem for a few days when I wanted to listen to one of the podcasts.

Then I realized: They were all missing! 

I knew from past experience that there was a setting in Itunes that needed to be made.

However,  I recently downloaded Itunes 11  and this complicated things a bit for me.

A Call To Apple Care

I put in a call to Apple Care and the first technician I talked to was very unhelpful and transferred me without my permission to the Ipod team.

Since, I knew this was a setting in Itunes, I knew that I did not need to be sent there.

The second technician agreed that she should not have sent me over.

Ok, Let’s move on!

What I Had To Do In Order To Synch My Ipod.

-With the Ipod plugged in to the computer wait for it to appear in Itunes.

When you click on your device inside of Itunes you will see a tab with ‘summary’ selected.   Simply go to the ‘podcasts’ tab and select ‘synch podcasts’.

In Itunes 11, you have a drop down box that gives you several options, including:   “all” and multiple variations of “most recent”  etc…

One additional problem I had in Itunes 11 was finding my sidebar.  Without the sidebar, you will not be able to see your device in order to click on it and get the options I described above.

In order to see the sidebar, go under the ‘view’ menu and select “show sidebar”.   That’s all I had to do.

 IPOD Upgrade

As a side note, I took my old IPOD from 2008 in to the Apple Store and asked about a battery replacement.   Since they did not have batteries for that model any longer they said they would sell me a ‘new’ 2009 model for 55 Euros.  I thought that was a good deal so I took them up on it.  That model, I think is also ‘retired’  (I think) but it was an upgrade from my 80 GB Ipod to a 160 GB ipod.

Since this IPOD can also be used as a storage device, I have plenty of extra GBs to fill up with anything I want.     That’s a one step better than toting around a bunch of thumb drives.
Comment below.

 

How To Reset The PRAM On A Mac…

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The PRAM Symptoms

I called Apple Support at 1-800-APL-CARE  because I was having a problem with my computer.

It seems that disk utilities would show me that I had 1.5 or 2 Gigs free but within 30 minutes of doing routine work, I would get a message.

That message said:  “Your Disk is Almost Full”

I would then open Disk Utilities again and sure enough, it would show that I had only a few megabytes of space left.

I would run a cleanup program and I would suddenly have more space again!

This continued about every thirty minutes or so.

Resetting PRAM

I called Apple Care for this problem.  They told me that I needed to clear my PRAM – I had not heard of this before.   (Silly of me, I know).

The procedure I was told to perform was this:

Restart the computer.  Before the screen turn on, hold down  Command-Option-P-R   (4 keys) all together and hold them until you hear the ‘Chime’ Twice.

If you only here the chime once, you must restart again.

You need to hear the Chime TWICE before logging in.

This resets the PRAM.

 

Results

Sure enough, I checked Disk utilities again,  this time I had a LOT more space than I was previously showing.

The problem seems to have disappeared now.

The only maintenance I had run previously was a ‘clean up’ utility and the repair permissions utility.   I was not aware that any other routine maintenance was needed.

The only other problem I have had was with my battery – which AppleCare replaced for me at no charge!

So, now I know that sometimes there may be additional maintenance to perform.

Next time I need to do this, I will come straight to this post for the directions.

 

System

Just so you know what I am running in case you are thinking of comparing it to your system.

I have a 17 inch MacBook Pro with 8 Gigs of RAM,  And a 120 GB HD that was installed by APPLE before I received the computer.

I am running LION  10.7.5 as an OS.    The MBP was created in the summer of 2010.   Processor  2.66 GHz Intel Core i7

* note, I cannot warrant or guarantee the suitability of the information provided here for your machine and your unique situation, be sure to call Apple Care for assistance before attempting to reset your PRAM – just in case you need a different set of instructions or have a different problem altogether than you may think. Proceed at your own risk!

Any thoughts?   Post your comments and experiences below.

 

 

 

Adsense For Feeds Going Away…

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adsense for feeds is being retiredA few weeks ago, the adsense team sent out a note that they were ‘retiring’ their google adsense for feeds product.

I did not find that much revenue was generated for me from that program.

Why?

I can only speculate, but my guess is that most people are using feed readers that merely show the headline of the item.  They simply click on a link and they go directly to the page if they are interested in viewing it.  This would bypass the adsense for feed product.

Is it possible that, as a result, the adsense for feeds product was generating such little revenue that it was not worth it, even for Google?   That would seem odd.  One would assume that that even with the few remaining feedreaders that might show the whole post or snippets of it, that they would still be earning good revenue from it.

On the other hand, perhaps there are not as many people utilizing feed readers as we might think.

Another possibility is that perhaps they were unable to detect and control the false clicks as they are with the regular adsense product.

I suppose we could speculate all day long, but the bottom line is that adsense for feeds is going away.

Alternatives

I would say that from my own personal, subjective experience, adsense is still the best game in town regarding revenue generating ad platforms.

My limited experiments with other platforms has not generated equivalent results.

I still hear stories about other people being ‘more’ successful with these platforms.   My rule of thumb is, even if it works for others but not me, it is useless for me.   I have to go by what is working / not working for me regardless of what others say.

This world of Internet revenue is an extremely complicated game.  You really cannot go by what others say.  Many people lie in order to sell you a product,  a subscription or worse : ‘information’.

The question of the skeptics: “If it is working so well, why would someone ‘sell’ the secrets?

The answer would appear to be:  The money is made in selling secrets that don’t actually work!    I highly suggest that you don’t become like those people…    Try to work and trade in a fair and ‘above board’ manner.   Give an honest product or service for an honest amount of pay.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, many people could care less about ‘the right thing’.    This will lead to bigger problems in the future.   Without moral integrity, the entire system is in jeopardy.  The only thing that makes systems work is the willingness of the people to ‘do the right thing’ and abide by what is morally and ethically right.    Without that in place, problems will surface.  When too many people become that way, society will have trouble existing.

I Digressed Again

I’ve been doing that lately,  I did the same thing in my last post as well.

The truth is never easy to get at or find.  That’s what makes it valuable. One book that I know of that seems to speak a great amount of truth is the book: Zhuan Falun.  I suggest  you read it.  You can get a free copy at  https://falundafa.org

 

About The Author

 

 

How Is Your Site Map – Working For You Or Not Working?

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Have You Overlooked Your Site Map?

your sitemap situationI saw a blog post today that included information on setting up site maps for wordpress blogs.

I realized that many of my sites’ maps were not listed in Google’s Webmaster Tools.

In addition, we should also list our sitemaps in Bing’s Webmaster tools as well.

It’s quite incredible that I missed this before.   It is such a simple thing to do and it could bring additional traffic to my site(s).

There is a google sitemap wordpress plugin that you can get if you have a wordpress site.

This sitemap thing is good for ecommerce stores as well.

Tell Me

Have you neglected to make sure you site map is up and running?

Have you submitted your site map(s) to both Google’s and Bing’s Webmaster tools?

If not, perhaps now is the time?

What Is A Site Map?

A site map is a listing of most or all of the pages on your site.

The plugin mentioned above, even allows you to add your non-wordpress pages to your site map – A very handy feature if you ask me.

Talking About Traffic

Traffic is so elusive for so many webmasters.  Perhaps it is really about doing all the little things that need to get done?

Again, have you submitted your sitemap(s) to Google and Bing?

Time to get busy?

 

Directions to The Apple Store In Frankfurt… Which Stop Is The Right One?

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Directions Are Easy, But The Correct Stop On The Subway Is NOT

It’s very easy to find the address of the Apple Store:

Große Bockenheimer Straße 30
 60313 Frankfurt
069 219 308 200  Store Phone Number

Understanding Alexa Rankings…

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I was going to write a post about this, but then I realized that having a visual aspect would be very helpful.    I also thought that it was be easier to pump out a quick video than to write a long explanation and then edit it.   So, here is the video:

  What Are Alexa Rankings And What Do They Mean?

 

Did that answer the question Mia? 

Questions, Comments or Thoughts from All are welcome below:

 

 

Mobile Broadband Internet Acess For Your Laptop

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I’ve used two mobile connection companies in the past 3 years.

The first one was problematic with a few ‘dead’ spots in the city I was operating in.

Lately I obtained a new Internet mobile connection in a different city.

The connection device is in the form of a USB stick.

As expected, the service was horrible, at first.   The salesman’s hype led me to believe it was going to be a lot better.  But it was also problematic with poor connections and low speeds.

But, he also mentioned that there would be an upgrade coming soon.    I did not give up complete hope.

Then the upgrade came and it really was a faster and stronger connection

That was good because I paid for 2 years in advance plus  about 120  for the connection device.   Plus, there was an additional 25 in a ‘connection fee’ that the salesman failed to tell me about.   It was discovered at the register.

That didn’t make me happy.

For the first month or so, the connection was not very good.  But, after their network upgrade things really got better.

A speed test shows that I am getting about 330 kb/s  UPLOAD speeds.    That’s 1/3 of MB per second.

Believe me when I say that is good for mobile connections in the year 2012.

Perhaps in another 5 years that will equate to nothing.

Anyway,  our home office Internet has been down for 3 days now.   I was able to support my entire business, including phone calls rerouted through skype on my mobile connection.

I was able to get a good deal.   I get 10GB  of bandwidth per month for a very low cost.

That’s why I paid for 2 years in advance, that was the minimum to get the good deal.

At first, it wasn’t worth it, but after the network upgrade it is definitely worth it.   I would have missed a lot of calls due to the office connection being down.

So, there is hope for mobile broadband yet.     Until now, there has been nothing but spotty service and support.

I am hoping things have improved now.

 

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