Tuesday, February 17, 2015

February TRI News

Winter has dug in and many of us have experienced cabin fever with the almost nine feet of snow we have recieved so far this year combined with the frigid cold visiting from the North Pole. Escaping the grasp of our New England weather and lack of color makes us look for color everywhere and anywhere. This Mama Cardinal is a frequent visitor of late. I suspect it is the breakfast menu. Although you can't see the detail in this picture, if you click this link, you will see her full screen. She is really quite beautiful and a treat when most of what we see these days is a mucky brown color.
Friend me on Facebook, look at my blogs or here, or look me up on Flickr.

In This Issue
February 2015

Six Years

Drive Sync

RoboCalls

Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back!

Greetings and welcome to our Newsletter! I want to share the many photos I have taken of places, people and things throughout the country and beyond. Each month our headline photo will be something new and different. The caption will present a small explanation. We hope you enjoy. Keep in mind, we don't want to waste your time. Articles will contain generally less than 250 words. Please have a look and give us your feedback. By all means, forward to a friend using the link at the bottom of the Newsletter. Thanks. Questions? Send me an email!

Six Years and Going Strong

We are celebrating the 72nd issue of the trif.com newsletter this month. We started sending out this monthly newsletter in March of 2009. It is quite the challenging comittment producing a regular newsletter. On top of the constant eyes and ears open for worthy material, It takes 4 to 6 hours to prepare, write, edit and transmit. When we began, we used Constant Contact templates and their image library. It was limiting. So in 2011, we created our own HTML template in Adobe Dreamweaver - the same application we often use for web site development and web applications. It allows us the flexibility to shape the Newsletter the way we want.

For those of you that do not produce a periodical, let me attest to the fact that it helps. Our Newsletter is sent to a mailing list of about 680 recipients. It is read by about 24% of you. Surprisingly, that is a good number.

Sending out the Newsletter helps for a few reasons. First, we don't visit all clients all the time, so it helps clients know we are still around. It also alerts clients to new ideas that may have some application to their needs. Lastly, it serves as a reminder of the many services we provide, how to contact us and where to find us on social media.

Please, if you haven't in the past, let us know you appreciate our Newsletter simply by clicking here. It will register your vote, nothing more. Thanks!

Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer?

Email me at rmj@trif.com The first consultation is always without charge.

Finally, a Drive Sync Program that Works!

I have looked for a simple disk drive sync program for a long time. I finally found it. SyncBack Free or SyncBackSE or SyncBack Pro. For anywhere from $0 to $54.95 you get a simple, functional application that does exactly what you want. Copy folders of files from one disk to a 2nd disk every night, but don't recopy files that have already been copied, just copy the new and changed files; and give me a report of any problems that ocurred; and don't give me some compressed file containing all the individual files, I want an exact copy that I could swap out if I wanted; and whatever you do, don't give me a full-backup followed by a dozen differential backups. Ugh! Please, keep it Simple!

Well I use SyncBack Free on my laptop and it copies all my image files from one USB Drive to a 2nd USB Drive - every night. I have about 700GB of images going back to 1997. They are irreplaceable. And it grows at about 10GB per month. I need to save all images in at least three different places plus the cloud. Well I do better than that! I have three 2TB (terabyte - 1,000GB) USB drives. I use one as my main drive and I swap out the other two drives.

Just so you know, I also have all my current year pictures on SD Cards. I do not delete pictures from SD Cards, I buy new SD Cards. And lastly, I backup all my personal computers (about 7TB of data) to the cloud with Crashplan and developed pictures also get backed up to the cloud using Dropbox..

Yes, I believe in redundancy. At the office, I have at least 4 copies of every file on disk drives or in the cloud. I never-ever want to lose a file. And if I touch a clients computer, I do the same thing.

I learned my lesson long ago, I mean long ago! It was 1984 and I wrote a program that controled a Tandy personal pen plotter. Before we had drivers that allowed you to just print to a pen plotter, we had to write a program that addressed the pen and directed it to move around in the x and y coordinates. I worked tirelessly for days fine tuning this program to type words in different sizes at different locations, centered or justified left or right, draw lines and boxes and grab different colored pens. It was, at the time, awesome and great fun to watch. And then I accidentally over wrote the program. It was gone forever, never to be replaced.... ever. For thirty years, the agony of that loss has remained engrained in my mind. I remember the physical ache in the pit of my stomach, that Oh S&!%$ moment when I pushed the enter key. It is something I never want to repeat. Ever.

TRI is a

Specializing in deploying

End Robot Telemarketing Calls

Bruce Horowitz from TechRoadmap Inc. shared this valuable tidbit. Nomorobo.com can help end those incessant robotic telemarketing calls that we all get constantly.

It was the winner of the FTC anti-robocall challenge as the best over-all solution. Popular Science reports that Aaron Foss came up with the Nomorobo system, which intercepts incoming calls before they reach people's phones, then determines whether the caller is an illegal robot before deciding whether to let the call through.

The system compares incoming numbers with whitelists and blacklists the Federal Trade Commission maintains. The determination even works when a blacklisted robocaller uses caller ID spoofing to make it appear as if the call is coming from a non-blacklisted number.

If you have VoIP and your provider allows you to do simultaneous ring then you add NoMoRobo's number to your simultaneous ring list and their computer answers after the first ring and hangs up on the robocall if the calling number is in their database of spam callers.

Bruce says that it works like a charm. It does still ring once on your own phone but it's a lot better than you or your voice-mail answering. Bruce has tested it on FiOS and a Vonage line.

Bruce Horowitz is a PhD and founder of TechRoadmap created to address the time pressures on research and product development managers. With TechRoadmap you can outsource strategic and tactical Intellectual Property Services to focus yourself on growing your company.

Social

Nuts and Bolts

Does your Windows computer seem to sloooooowwww down from time to time? Don't hesitate to look to Windows Task Manager to find out what it is working on. It can help you figure things out and over-time you will get a feel for what programs and services should be running and which ones shouldn't. When you see something you don't know? Just google the program or service name. Google is great at telling you what programs do and if they are necessary. You can stop any application that is running from the Task Manager, but exercise caution.

To run Task Manager, just hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and select Task Manager. In the Processes Tab, click on CPU, Memory or Disk (Win8) or I/O (Win7), and the columns will be reordered. Click on ServicesTab, look down the list of Services running to look for items that might not belong. It will take some experience, but in time this can help. Win8 Task Manager is more informative than Win7.

Robert McKay Jones
TRI
9 Waushacum Avenue
Sterling, Massachusetts 01564

978-422-7770
rmj@trif.com


Copyright ©2015 TRI
All Rights Reserved
All Photographs Copyright ©2015 by Robert McKay Jones unless otherwise credited
Artists Sketch by Bruce Davidson
This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the views of Robert McKay Jones and Transportation Resources, Inc.
All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document.
Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization.

Forward email


This email was sent to robertmckayjones.stager52@blogger.com by rmj@trif.com |  

Transportation Resources, Inc. | 9 Waushacum Avenue | Post Office Box 452 | Sterling | MA | 01564

Monday, January 19, 2015

January TRI News

For those that follow me on Facebook, you know that I have taken on a new project this year. I have set out to photograph and develop photographs everyday and post a representative photo for the day online. The best, in my minds eye. I am only a couple weeks into the project, but it is consuming and inspiring. I love it! For a small part of my day, it changes how I see things, where and how I drive and how I think. Friend me on Facebook, look at my blogs or here, find me on Instagram or look me up on Flickr. The above picture was taken on Lynn Beach with Nahant in the distance. Sunset was just about to take place over the Boston skyline out of view. For a full shot, click the picture.

In This Issue
January 2015

Apple Pay

Follow the Sun

WeMo

Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back!

Greetings and welcome to our Newsletter! I want to share the many photos I have taken of places, people and things throughout the country and beyond. Each month our headline photo will be something new and different. The caption will present a small explanation. We hope you enjoy. Keep in mind, we don't want to waste your time. Articles will contain generally less than 250 words. Please have a look and give us your feedback. By all means, forward to a friend using the link at the bottom of the Newsletter. Thanks. Questions? Send me an email!

Apple Pay is Setting the Stage....

We already use our finger print to unlock our iPhones. Why not use it to pay for merchandise. Apple Pay is here and already an impressive contender in tendering payments for purchases in a store or online. And soon, we may see an iris scan being required by some institutions to authorize payment. Beyond Iris scanning, there is heart beat monitoring and other biometric instruments that are in test.

In the end, anything that eliminates the threat of identity theft is a welcome and needed improvement, especially for those paying the bill. Us!

It is reported that identity theft is on the rise. 8 million people in 2010, 12 million in 2011 and 14 million people in 2012. With an estimated cost of $24 billion in 2012, this problem is getting seriously out of hand. The IRS lost a purported $5.2 billion in 2013 as a result of identity theft.

Apple is working on being the leader with the iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch due out early this year. Apple is increasing purchase security by scanning a credit card to be used for purchases. Supported by Mastercard, Visa and American Express along with Capital One, Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and more, these methods of payment will soon retire our credit cards and maybe our wallet.

One of the best things we can begin to expect is that transactional information with credit authorizing data will no longer be saved and therefore no longer stolen. How long will it take the $24 billion a year to trickle back into our pockets?

Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer?

Email me at rmj@trif.com The first consultation is always without charge.

Follow the Sun

Know when and where the sun is has become important especially as I photograph each and every day. I am always interested in what direction the light will be coming from at what time of day.

There are a couple of tools I use that combine the path of the sun with a topographic - satellite map. It helps determine possible view points for sunrise or sunset light.

The first is an iPad/iPhone App from OzPad called Sun Seeker. At $6.99, it is a great source of Sun information. The image at left is one of the most valuable.

It allows you to virtually travel from place to place and view the path the sun will follow and its relationship to that vantage point.

The other application is a web site called suncalc.net which will display a google map and the location of the sun at sunrise, sunset and current time.

If you want to see a sunset over water in New England, these applications will help you find a place to go. For example, the map at left shows the path of the sun January 16th from the Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Gloucester, MA. It looks like a winter sunset over water is possible or certainly over Marblehead. For a sampling of sunset/sunrise photos. Click here or here.

TRI is a

Specializing in deploying

WiFi that will Change your Life

Welcome to WeMo®, a handy little WiFi appliance that allows you to control your home or office. Plug in any device to a WeMo which in turns plugs into any outlet and that device is under your control. According to Belkin, the makers of this device, "The Wi-Fi enabled WeMo Insight Switch connects your home appliances and electronic devices to your Wi-Fi network, allowing you to turn devices on or off, program customized notifications and change device status - from anywhere.

WeMo Insight Switch can monitor your electronics and will send information about the device's energy usage directly to your smartphone or tablet. Perfect to pair with space heaters, wall A/C units, TVs, washers, dryers, fans, lights and more.

Download the free WeMo App to as many smartphones and tablets as you like to create rules and custom schedules. The WeMo App can be as flexible as you need and allows you to create rules that are easy to set up and can easily be changed. You can even receive notifications that are personalized to meet your needs. Get notified when your laundry cycle is finished so that you avoid wrinkled clothes, know when your child has exceeded their daily TV limit and turn it off, or find out if you left the space heater on accidentally."

WeMo Apps are available for Androids and iPhones.

Social

Nuts and Bolts

Excel loading time getting you down? It may be as simple as looking at your add-ins. Over time, add-ins connect themselves to Microsoft Office applications. They may be intended, they may be added as a result of installing a new application.

Click on File-Options-Add-ins and make sure the Active Add-ins are only the ones you want and need. Like Adobe Acrobat may install an add-on for Acrobat PDF Maker. But you may have also installed an Analysis Toolpak that you don't need or a Lync sharing add-in. These all take time and may not be necessary. Also slect the type of add-in at the bottom of the screen. You may see other add-ins in the COM Add-Ins like the QB Add-ins for QuickBooks.

Hope you enjoyed this new feature - Nuts and Bolts. Please let us know!

Robert McKay Jones
TRI
9 Waushacum Avenue
Sterling, Massachusetts 01564

978-422-7770
rmj@trif.com


Copyright ©2015 TRI
All Rights Reserved
All Photographs Copyright ©2015 by Robert McKay Jones unless otherwise credited
Artists Sketch by Bruce Davidson
This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the views of Robert McKay Jones and Transportation Resources, Inc.
All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document.
Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization.

Forward email


This email was sent to robertmckayjones.stager52@blogger.com by rmj@trif.com |  

Transportation Resources, Inc. | 9 Waushacum Avenue | Post Office Box 452 | Sterling | MA | 01564

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

December News - News from TRI

I already miss the sun in Florida. The sun sets late as you get closer to the summer solstice. As it sets, amazing color fills a cloudless sky. Palms swaying in the breeze shades the disappearing sun and marks a time and a place that I often think of as the weight of winter begins to take hold in New England. I couldn't decide what picture to use this month, so I have two versions of my December Newsletter. Here is the other choice. You pick!

In This Issue
December 2014

Imagination

Statistics

Fake Followers

Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back!

Greetings and welcome to our Newsletter! We wanted to share the many photos we have taken of places, people and things throughout the country and beyond. Each month our headline photo will be something new and different. The caption will present a small explanation. We hope you enjoy. Keep in mind, we don't want to waste your time. Articles will contain generally less than 250 words. Please have a look and give us your feedback. By all means, forward to a friend using the link at the bottom of the Newsletter. Thanks. Questions? Send me an email!

Imagination....

I recently saw a program with Dr. Wayne Dyer, who at age 74 looks like he just turned 50. Dr. Dyer has written more than 40 books, half of which were New York Times best sellers. He has also generated more than $250 million dollars for public television with his 10 PBS specials. His focus? A better you -- improving the spiritual aspects of your human experience.

Although he speaks of many things, there is one concept that to me speaks the loudest. We have the gift of imagination. When we talk about imagination, it always makes me think of Walt Disney and of course Mickey Mouse.

Our lives tend to get in the way of our focus but there is a truism; if you imagine it hard enough and long enough, your dreams will come true.

I have seen evidence so many times. Back in October of 2009, I blogged about the Vision of a Child and talked about an image book I had created in 1982. It was filled with pictures and ideas - things I wanted to accomplish, achieve or acquire. In 2009, when I reviewed this image book, I was astonished at all that I had achieved and acquired. And it seems the things that had not been achieved or acquired were things I really wanted.

So my Christmas wish for everyone is that you can empower your imagination with the things you want to achieve, acquire and accomplish. Take heed to this (anonymous) quote:

When our childhood ended, did we cease to dream? Hardly. Yet after quiet moments looking beyond the horizon, we hesitate to speak. We pull back, rationalize into insignificance. Are we embarrassed by the "childishness" of it all? What a loss. For, surely to benefit from seeing things anew, we must acknowledge the sense of wonder that remains with us. And grant that child freedom. So, share your vision, your big ideas. And just perhaps it will fly.

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy dreaming!

Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer?

Email me at rmj@trif.com The first consultation is always without charge.

Statistics are Fun?

Have you ever looked at trends? Before there was Internet, I always enjoyed Statistical Abstracts. Now there is a web service that will tell you much the same kinds of information. Find it at www.statista.com. For example, how much does the State and Local Lottery make, and chart it back to 1977? Have a look... 21 Billion in 2011. Or if you were interested in how many users sign up for World of Warcraft. Subscribers grew to 12 million in 2010 and now hovers at 7.5 million.

Or look at the national debt as compared to the gross domestic. It has grown from 65% in 2004 to 105% in 2014 climbing drastically after the 2008 debacle.

Take a look at social media. You will see that Facebook is still the leader with 1.3 billion followers compared to Google+ with 343 million and Twitter with 284 million. What you will also see is Qzone with 629 million active users. What is QZone? QZone is a Chinese social media website. But even in China, Facebook leads the way.

Look at over-budget construction projects and you will see the the Big Dig was merely the 3rd largest over-budget project in the world superceded by the Channel Tunnel project between Great Britain and France and the Three Gorges Dam project in China.

Lastly, look at the facts on Microsoft. Looking at their revenues over the last few years, they have steadily increased revenues from 28 billion to 86 billion in the last dozen years. With barely a hiccup in 2009 after the recession of 2008. More staggering is their net income which was more than 20 billion in 2013. Consider a 93% market share in PC's.

TRI is a

Specializing in deploying

Fake Followers is Big Business

Going viral in Social Media is a big thing and it makes money. So it makes perfect sense that companies are sprouting up that sell followers. You can buy 50,000 followers on Facebook for $500, or 50,000 followers on Twitter for $250 or 50,000 followers on Instagram. Not just followers, but likes as well. You can buy likes! So I can post a picture on my Facebook (I have a couple of hundred friends) and then buy 5,000 likes for $100. What does that give me? Bragging rights? I am not sure. But do you think that Justin Beiber really has 57 million Twitter followers? I highly doubt it.

Prove this phenomena for yourself. Load up Justin's Twitter page and click on Followers and go down the list and look for a follower that has no picture and click on that follower. Here is an example. Jevypoo aka @LovelesBadBad has virtually no content, but is following 40 -- the likes of Kim Kardashian, Conan O'Brien, Universal Orlando, ESPN, Demi Lovato and LeBron James.

This means that a company has set up a fake user on the Social Media site, and sold the following of that user to all of these celebrities or companies. So the question becomes, What is the social media budget of Justin Beiber and how many followers are fake? The BBC claims that in excess of 50% have been purchased. This makes it possible for ytview.com to thrive - a business with no address, no phone number, a gmail email address and a private domain registered with GoDaddy.

Social

Nuts and Bolts

Don't get too upset over Windows 8, if it is on your desktop, it really isn't much different than Windows 7. Just click Desktop and there you are. Yes, I know, there is no start button and your applications are hard to find, but that is easily solved. In the Windows 8 Start screen, scan for the applications that you will want to use all the time and right-click on each one and pin to your task bar. You will find it much easier to navigate. Good luck!

Hope you enjoyed this new feature - Nuts and Bolts. Please let us know!

Robert McKay Jones
TRI
9 Waushacum Avenue
Sterling, Massachusetts 01564

978-422-7770
rmj@trif.com


Copyright ©2014 TRI
All Rights Reserved
All Photographs Copyright ©2014 by Robert McKay Jones unless otherwise credited
Artists Sketch by Bruce Davidson
This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the views of Robert McKay Jones and Transportation Resources, Inc.
All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document.
Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization.

Forward email


This email was sent to robertmckayjones.stager52@blogger.com by rmj@trif.com |  

Transportation Resources, Inc. | 9 Waushacum Avenue | Post Office Box 452 | Sterling | MA | 01564