Category: Computing Tips

Articles – From the horse’s mouth

IHG Hotels

Product site (IHG Rewards Club)

Press Release

My Comments

Just previously, I have covered the issue of paying for Internet access at the big-name hotels and mentioned that it is worth checking for accommodation packages and frequent-lodger programs that include Internet access as part of the package. As part of citing the “Business Sense” accommodation package that the Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto hotel were running, I learnt further from this hotel and the hotel chain’s PR agency about revisions that were underway for their Priority Club Rewards program.

Here, they are revising this program to include Internet access at the participating hotels for all members. Unlike some of these programs that include this benefit but limit it to a requirement that you stay in the hotel overnight or rent meeting space at that hotel before you can use Internet service, the IHG Rewards Club program allows members to benefit from the Internet service unconditionally. This means that even if they just attend an event, visit the restaurant or bar for something to eat or drink or see a guest who is staying at that hotel, they can use the wireless Internet service there.

This ability to use the Internet-access independent of whether you are staying at the hotel answers a key reality with people who use portable computing equipment. Here, one could be using the bar or restaurant as a meeting place or “second office” for activities like showing data that you have drawn down from work to show a colleague or client; or simply catching up with emails and similar online activity while away from the office.

The feature is intended to be rolled out gradually with Elite-level members being the first to benefit from July 2013, with all members benefiting from 2014. The IHG Rewards plan also is intended to work across all of the IHG hotel brands ranging from the premium Intercontinental hotels through the Crowne Plaza to the cheaper Holiday Inn places.

What I see of this is that it could be a chance for the hospitality industry to look at the realities concerning how people are using portable computer equipment on the property and work better towards improving the tariffs and packages for this reality.

Windows users have been able to use the Facebook Messenger as a desktop option for gaining access to Facebook’s chat and messaging features. Similarly, users of the iOS and Android mobile platforms have benefited from having access to the Facebook Messenger app as a dedicated path to this same service.

But how can you gain full-time access to the Facebook chat and messaging functionality on your Apple Macintosh without the need to open your Web browser? You can when you use the iChat software that is integrated with the Mac OS X operating system.

Here, the Mac has to be equipped with iChat AV 3 or later which is part of the operating system from 10.4 Tiger to 10.7 Lion. It will provide an “always-live” messaging and “green-dot” presence feature that you would expect with the Web-driven Facebook messaging interface.

1. To set this up, you click on the “Preferences” item in the iChat menu.
2. Click on the “Accounts” option in this window, then click the + icon at the bottom of this window as if you are adding a new iChat account.
3. Select “Jabber” as the account type.
4. Supply the credentials as:
   Screen Name: <Your_Facebook_User_Name>@chat.facebook.com
   Password:<Your_Facebook_Password>
5. For the Server Options, make sure that “Automatically find server name and port” option is checked. If this doesn’t work, you may have to fill in “chat.facebook.com” in the Name and 5222 in the Port for the Server details
6. Then click Done to add the account.

For this acoount to work automatically, you have to select the “Enable this account” and “Log in Automatically” options for it to log in and show you as online when you use your Mac. Here, you will see the list of all the Facebook Friends who are currently online with that green dot.

Introduction

Some accommodations plans offered by hotels like this one do include wireless Internet access

A common gripe I have heard from travellers in relation to Internet access at hotels, especially the “big-time” hotel chains is that they charge too much for Internet access rather than providing it as a complimentary service.

There are two ways you can benefit from this access without having to pay extra.

The business-focused accommodation deal

Some hotels offer a business-focused deal which includes at least accommodation, breakfast served in the main restaurant along with the Internet access for the duration of your stay. Most often, some of these packages are offered through the weekdays and, in some cases, may be cheaper that the standard accommodation-only rate. Different properties may throw in extras like reduced business-centre costs, or a rebate on your food or drink bill.

This is in a similar vein to how some of the accommodation+breakfast deals may cost slightly more than the accommodation-only deals yet you have the breakfast which would cost significantly more as part of the package.

Examples of these include:

• Online Over An Omelette deal offered by Rydges Melbourne (breakfast in restaurant, Internet access)
• All Inclusive Corporate Access deal offered by Rydges On Swanston (breakfast in restaurant, Internet access, welcome drink in bar, AUD$10 towards drinks in the minibar)
• Business Sense deal offered by Intercontinental Melbourne The Rialto (breakfast in restaurant, Internet access and 25% of business-centre services)

It is also worth paying attention to the club-floor or concierge-floor programs that some of these hotels offer which will have complimentary or reduced-price Internet access. These premium-priced programs are related to a cluster of rooms on a particular floor where you also have access to an exclusive-access lounge, complimentary food and drinks amongst other things depending on the program.

That frequent-lodger program that the hotel offers

Some of the hotels who run a frequent-lodger program may offer cheaper or inclusive Internet access for all members of the program. An example of this is the Marriott Rewards program which provides inclusive Internet access to guests checking in using this plan. Another example is the PriorityGUEST program which reduces the standard property-specific Internet access costs by half for members who check in at a Rydges, QT or Art Series hotel with their PriorityGUEST card.

Conclusion

It makes sense to spend extra time trawling through Websites and similar material offered by a big-name hotel chain or other hotel that charges for Internet access and look for the accommodation packages or frequent-lodger programs that integrate access to this service.

It is worth knowing that any particular package or promotion that I mention in this article may be subject to change.

Windows Store – one of the desktop app stores starting to surface

There is an Increasing number of app stores coming to the fore for each of the mobile and regular computing environments where you can buy and / or download software for your computing device. Some of these also provide for after-the-fact purchasing of add-on options for the software through the software’s user interface.

The situation that affects app stores

But there is a real danger that the app stores are becoming like the bulletin boards and online services that existed before the Internet and the software-download sites that existed in the early days of the Internet. This is where these locations were filled with substandard software that, in some cases, you come across software with very limited functionality that borders on useless but you to pay the developer before you can see a fully-functional package that you can enjoy using.

In the case of the app stores, the substandard software uses a poor-quality user interface or underperforms in a way where the device suffers a short battery life or performs sluggishly. There have been situations where the apps have been used for delivering malware especially through those app stores where there isn’t any real control on the software that is delivered. The limited functionality software also surfaces in these app stores more so with games that require you to buy options or virtual currency in order for you to enjoy playing them.

Even an app store that implements an approval process can be overwhelmed with software pending approval, which can lead to their standards being reduced in order to clear the backlog or increase the software quantity.

Identifying the good apps

IMDB movie app for Android – one of the good app-store apps

But how do you identify a good app in those app stores and be sure you aren’t downloading a lemon?

• One sign to look for is if the app has been put in the spotlight. Typically, the app may be positioned as an “editor’s choice” or “spotlight” app for its class or brought up front on the app store’s user interface. Blogs, newsletters and the like operated by the app store may cite the software in the “top picks” articles.
• In some cases, if you hear your relatives and friends rave on about that app or you see many people in that train play that “time-waster” game on their smartphone or tablet, this could be the sign of a good app.
  You may also find that it’s a good idea to ask a computer-wise friend or relative about the apps you want on your device or get a second opinion on that app.
• Similarly, the app would have some qualitative reviews in its “product-review” section. Here, you look for repeated reports of particular problems or notice many “copycat” or simplistic favourable comments, which could lead to a questionable app.
• If you are looking for a “front-end” app for an online service, look for those apps that are published by the service themselves. This also holds true of apps that are linked with product and service brands. Typically these apps are announced through the brand’s advertising channels and the brands are wanting to defend their reputation.
  For example, I would prefer that Apple iOS users who are running newer versions of this operating system that didn’t come with YouTube pick up the Google YouTube app from the iTunes App Store. Similarly, when I was writing my article about the sports scoreboard apps, I recommended those apps commissioned by the sports leagues / codes themselves or the sports broadcasters.
• The version number of the app may give away clues to the revision cycle that is taking place. Where there is a lot of revision taking place leading to a multi-point number like 1.3.1 typically indicates that there is a level of quality control going on. There may be some exceptions to the rule especially if the app or game is well-written from the start and this may apply with some of the casual games which are based on a known algorithm.
• It may also be worth looking at what other software the app developer has offered to the app store. Here, look for the kind of reviews the software has as well as whether the software has ever been featured.
• Also be aware of apps that require permission to use functions or resources not to do with its stated job. These can be about spyware or cause the phone or computer to underperform.
  Here, it may be worth checking the “blurb” about the software in the app store if it is requiring the use of the cameras or the location sensor because some of these sensors are used beyond the obvious. For example, some programs implement the GPS sensor as a distance-measuring tool or an increasing number of programs use the cameras for their machine-vision needs.

In some situations, cutting back on the number of apps on your device can allow it to perform smoothly, and you may have to be ready to uninstall some apps if you find them “swamping” your computer, tablet or smartphone.

Once you know how to sort the wheat from the chaff at your computing platform’s app store, you are in a good position to make sure that the devices that work on that platform are working smoothly.

Brother HL-2240D compact monochrome laser printer – an example of a workflow printer

I have come across situations with small offices such as clinics who run one or more dedicated laser printers that turns out receipts, invoices and other documents as part of the customer-facing business workflow. Some offices may run the printers also for some back-office requirements like preparing reports or balance sheets for that workstation.

But there is the situation where the printer can break down, usually with a mechanical failure like frequent paper jamming. This can happen more frequently as a machine ages and is worked hard in a busy office. It is analogous to that situation most of us experience when a car gets to that point in its life where it frequently lives at the mechanic’s workshop and drills a hole in your pocket because it is always breaking down.

This situation can impair the business’s workflow especially as one has to work out how to rectify a paper jam or, in some cases, reset the machine. As well, no woman would want to ruin their beautifully-done fingernails knocking them on the machine’s internals while removing jammed up paper.

In these situations, it is a good idea to set up a failover printing arrangement where you have other printers that come in to play if the workstation’s primary machine fails. This is easier to achieve if all of the printers accessible to the office or reception area are linked to the network.

For example, you could use a multifunction for this purpose even though each workstation computer has a dedicated laser printer like the Brother HL-2240D or Dell 1130n. The multifunction printer, which is often expected to serve as the main copier and fax machine for the organisation, could be a machine like the Brother MFC-8370DN or HP LaserJet M1536dnf for a monochrome variety or a Brother MFC-9460CDN or HP LaserJet Pro Color M475 Series for a colour variety. Even one of the high-end business inkjets like the HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 could do the job just as well.

Some environments that have two or more workstations may prefer to have one workflow printer per workstation. Here, it would be preferable to connect the printers via the network rather than directly to the workstation computers. Here this can allow the other workflow printer to be used as a failover measure.

HP LaserJet M1536dnf monochrome laser multifunction printer – an example of a multifunction expected to be a small business’s copier and fax

But what you would have to do is to set up the workstations to use the printer that is local to them as well as this main multifunction printer or other workflow printer. This may be as simple as adding the driver set for the main printer to the computers or it may also require the line-of-business software to be set up to allow the use of two or more printers.

As far as default printers are concerned, you would have to set the primary dedicated printer as the default machine, then have the users select the main multifunction printer as a secondary printer whenever their primary printer fails. This can be done as part of ordering the print job in most software or going to the Printers option in the operating system and setting the multifunction printer as the default while the single-function workflow printer is out of action.

If you run a server-driven printing environment, it may be worth looking at options that allow failover printing so that print jobs that come from one workstation appear at particular printers in an order of availability.

Once you look at this option for setting up multiple printers in your office or reception area, you could then be sure of an arrangement where a printer failure doesn’t impede on your business workflow or affect how your business is perceived by the people your business benefits.

Article

HP Communities – Your Office in Your Briefcase – HP Communities

My Comments

I have reviewed a significant number of the ultraportable computers and had assessed them in their capacity for “working on the go”. The regular 15” computers would work well if you do most of the travel by car, but I have found the 13”-14” computers as being able to come up to the job when you do a lot of travel, by offering a lightweight form while being able to type easily and benefit from an easily-viewable screen.

Input devices

I have written an article about the kind of pointing device to use with your laptop, including the situations when the integrated trackpad would come in handy. For the wireless mice that the article was suggesting that we use, I had found that most wireless input devices would require a proprietary dongle transceiver that plugged in to the USB port on the computer. Here, I would prefer that we go for a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct mouse especially as nearly all laptops have integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and you wouldn’t need to carry or worry about losing those dongles.

Power Needs

As for power supply, it may be wise to check through the manufacturer’s direct-sale Website store incase they offer one of those AC/Auto/Air adaptors. These adaptors have a DC input and a cord which connects to the EmPower airline DC connector or the cigar-lighter socket in a car; alongside an AC socket for the regular power cord.

If you do visit one or two particular countries or regions regularly, you could use AC cords that have plugs that are local to those particular areas for your laptop and other gadgets that use standard AC input sockets. This can be seen as a way to “free up” travel adaptors for other gadgets like mobile-phone chargers or bathroom necessities.

If the laptop uses a user-replaceable battery, you could find that you can run longer with a spare battery. It is also worth paying attention to the optional “long-run” battery packs like what Sony offers as an option for their VAIO S and Z Series notebooks. These high-capacity battery packs clip on to or install in the computer and run as secondary batteries that provide a lot of extra run time.

Of course, there had been mention about the use of headphones or a headset for your laptop as well as use of Microsoft’s Office 365 and Office Web Apps as part of your business computing needs.

Conclusion

One might say that, because the article was written at an HP Website, it may favour the HP products but I would still give the competing products like the Acer and Sony products a go.

A typical external hard disk

An accessory worth having on hand for your laptop is an external hard disk. These typically connect to the computer using a USB or eSATA connector and, in the case of smaller-sized USB drives, are powered off the host computer.

Backup tool

One often-promoted use for these hard disks is for them to be a data-backup tool. Here, you could copy all of your work to an external hard disk, either by copying out your user-data folders to the hard disk or using a backup tool supplied by the operating system vendor or a third party.

What you can do is keep this backup hard disk somewhere safe such as that in-room safe in the hotel you are staying in. Then you work your data on your laptop and perform regular backups of that data. If the backup software allows this, you could perform a “disk-image” backup of your programs and data so that if something happens to the hard disk, you can restore this “image” to your new hard disk.

In some cases, you could do a full or “disk-image” backup of your computer’s storage to one of these external hard disks and send the external hard disk to your home or workplace by registered or certified mail or a courier service. Here, you would need to make sure the service has proper insurance cover for the equipment under transit and it may be something that you may have to buy when you send the item onwards.

Data-offload tool

eSATA / USB port on some laptops

Another application would be a “data-offload” disk. Here, you could move surplus user data to the external hard disk before you find that you are running out of disk space on the laptop’s main disk.

If you do need the data, you could just connect the hard disk to your laptop so you can get at that data. Of course, some of you who own a high-capacity iPod may move all of your digital music collection to the iPod and not have it on your computer’s hard disk.

This common application would be increasingly important with Ultrabooks and other small notebooks that don’t have much in the way of capacity on their main secondary-storage. Here, this situation can allow you to have the best of both worlds – a compact computer with a quick-access storage and a large amount of space to hold those photos or music tracks.

Those who play computer games will also benefit from using USB hard disks. Here, it is about offloading the data associated with these games so you can keep your laptop for productivity use and will be important as your games acquire extra abilities like downloadable content. You may even find that you could offload games you aren’t touching so you can focus your computer’s storage resources on the one you are currently playing. Steam and other game-distribution platforms have support for this kind of arrangement including offloading games.

What to choose

Interfaces

USB 3.0 socket (in blue) on laptop

Personally, I would prefer a USB 3.0 or eSATA unit if the computer is equipped with a USB 3.0 or eSATA port. This allows for higher data throughput which would be important if you are moving a lot of data at once. If you are doing small incremental data transfers, you could get by with a USB 2.0 hard disk at the time this article was initially created.

The newer connection that is appearing is the USB Type-C connector. Here, this provides a high-throughput data transfer rate when implemented to USB 3.2 or newer standards as well as being a highly-compact connection form. Here, this connection is being used as the only peripheral connection type for ultraportable laptops but is also appearing on some of these portable hard disks.

Newer USB-C socket on a Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 laptop

You will also notice that USB portable hard disks that work to the USB 3.0 or USB 3.1 standards and don’t have a USB Type-C connection will have a USB Type-Micro-B 3.0 “blade-shaped” connection that plugs in to the hard disk unit itself. They will came with a cable that has this connection and the traditional USB Type-A host-connection plug. But you can use them with newer computers that have the USB Type-C port if you purchase a cable with a USB Type-Micro-B 3.o plug on one end and a USB Type-C plug on the other.

Most small USB hard disks run off the host computer’s power rather than a separate power supply. The same doesn’t hold true for eSATA hard disks because the eSATA interface doesn’t pass power from the host computer to the drive. That situation can avoid the need to carry extra power cords or adaptors if you want to use an external hard disk.

For that matter, I have written an article about what is the difference between an external USB hard disk versus a portable USB hard disk. Here, it is about how these devices are powered and their size, but it also encompasses whether the hard-disk mechanism is designed for increased resilience to accidents.

Physical size

The size that would work well for travel would be a unit that is no bigger than a pack of playing cards or, if you were old enough to remember them, an audio cassette. This then means that the external hard disk doesn’t take up much space or add extra weight to your luggage. It also means that your backup disk doesn’t take up much room in the in-room safe and wouldn’t cost much to send by certified post if you had to send it home under separate cover.

Capacity

When you do purchase these hard disks, be prepared to buy as much capacity as you can afford. This is something I stand for when recommending any equipment that uses a hard disk, so you are not always running out of capacity or having to move and delete data off the device.

What is worth knowing

Integrating images with the main digital-image collection

If you are using the external hard disk to offload digital images that you have downloaded to your Ultrabook, you can use your main computer’s image-management program’s “import” method to import the images. Here, you would have to use “Open Autoplay” in Windows to invoke this functionality.

On the other hand, you may just simply copy the image folder on the external hard disk to the main computer’s image folder under a particular folder name of your choice. Here, you may have to rotate images to view them the correct way. This is more so if you haven’t used an image-management program to import your photos from the camera’s memory card to your Ultrabook’s storage.

A possible workflow idea

What you could do to manage images while travelling could be to use iPhoto or Windows Live Photo Gallery to import the pictures from your camera card and smartphone to your “traveller” computer’s main storage.

These tools give you the ability to pre-process your images such as making sure they are the “right way up”, doing basic cropping or panorama creation or simply adjusting exposure. As well you use this image collection to post up select pictures on Flickr, Facebook and similar online sharing or social-networking services.

Then you use the external hard disk to offload images whenever you find you are running tight on space or simply to make a backup copy of those pictures.

When you arrive home, you just simply copy that image collection to your main image folder on your regular computer and / or your network-attached storage.

Conclusion

Once you know about these external hard disks, you would then value them as an compact auxiliary storage unit for the data you create using that laptop while you go travelling.

Updates:

15 December 2020

Added newer information about the USB-C connection and USB 3 Micro-B connection that appear on these USB hard disks.

Also referenced an article about the difference between portable and external hard disks; along with information about offloading games to these hard disks without breaking them.