5-things-know-about-flip-phone

If you own any type of a flip phone there are some things that you can do to protect it from becoming damaged, broken or having the software crash. My Kyocera Lingo recently went through some software problems that ended up being resolved by the service provider resetting the phone. None of my information was lost but I did have to power down the phone and remove the battery several times before the reset actually worked. If you own a flip phone of any style, make or model, there are some things that you need to know about it that the company may never tell you about.

1. Avoid Unnecessary Flipping! I was a habitual flipper. I usually had my phone set to silent so the screen would flash when I would get a call, text, picture or video. There is a small alert button on it that flashes when there is something waiting for you but that was never good enough, I had to open the phone and check the internal screen. All that flipping open and closed led to the phone acting up from time to time and the eventual "white screen of death". If you are home or at work and are expecting a lot of text messages, just leave the clamshell or top part of the phone open. It will save a lot of unnecessary flipping and slamming of the phone door.

2. Phone Cases Are Useless! 90% of the phone cases are useless. I have several and they are sitting in a drawer collecting dust. They made it hard to the phone when you get a call and can end up putting scratches on it when it is designed to keep it from getting scratched. If you are someone that trades their phone in once a year, this will really cut the offering price down because of visual imperfections. Phone cases for flip phone muffle the ring tones and alert sounds, make it harder to text and can cause moisture to build up on the inside if it is exposed to direct sunlight.

3. Don't Keep It In Your Pocket! In the summer months your body throws off heat and that heat could cause moisture to get trapped in the phone. That could short it out, mess up the battery contacts or fry the software. Likewise, it is prone to getting banged into things and unnecessary roughness can result to internal and external damage. A zipper pocket on a backpack is one of the safest places to keep it. For flip phones, keeping them in your pocket is doubly dangerous. Things can get wedged in between the cell phone door (either side) and scratch the internal screen or make it impossible to open the door if it gets jammed in the hinge section.

4. Never Believe What A Salesman Tells You! When I took my phone in to have it looked at the screen was unreadable yet I was still able to get and make calls. That did me no good since I relied on my phone book to make calls. When the phone powered up I was able to see the Kyocera screen clearly so I knew that it was something with the software. The guy looked me dead in the eye and told me I needed a new phone and there was nothing he could do to try and fix it. I called my service provider and after three attempts, the phone reset itself and the internal and external screens were working perfectly. I waited almost two weeks to have service restored to it to make sure that it powered off and on perfectly, charged and worked without fail. When I went back to the store and confronted him about it he shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't understand what I was saying. He understood how to charge my credit card for a new phone but couldn't tell me how (mysteriously) it was able to be fixed. One of the biggest things that stores hold over your head when you own a flip phone is that the opening and closing of the case will eventually be its downfall. Every time you close it, it causes a sudden jolt to the phone. If you close it 20 times a day, that really takes its toll on it.

5. Phone Insurance Is Useless! Unless your phone insurances covers everything, it is worthless. If it only covers defects then you are wasting money every month. If it is lost you will have to file a claim. If it is stolen you will have to file a police report. If it accidentally goes into the washer or toilet, you are out of luck because most insurance plans that you pay to the provider won't cover it. Save the three to five dollars a month you are paying for insurance and put it in a coffee jar. If something happens to your phone use that money to buy a new one. The insurance for my flip phone would have been $5.99 a month. Over the course of the year that would have been close to eighty dollars and it would not have covered the phone "dying" (his explanation). If there is a way that they can use a loop hole to avoid giving you a new phone, rest assured, they will.

If you are thinking about getting any type of flip phone my best advice is to do your research. Read about what others have to say about them. I love my Kyocera Lingo when it works but when it has problems, the problems are major. I was lucky that it was just a software problem. I did end up buying a new phone to replace it without using some restraint to wait and see if it could be fixed. I couldn't imagine living without my cell phone or being able to send text messages. I realized, in hindsight, that if I would have just waited a few days everything would have worked out and I wouldn't have been out about a hundred dollars.

5-reasons-consider-for-prepaid-phones

1) No Commitment. This is a big one for a lot of people. Many cell phone customers get roped into a contract deal and continue on for years because they keep coming back for whatever high-end phone is offered in the latest low cost subsidized phone deal. For instance, with Verizon Wireless, customers may get excited about the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the new iPhone 5, and decide that they want to get the phone at a very discounted rate, and will sign a new contract just for the privilege of using this new phone.

With prepaid phone plans, there is no commitment and no contract so you can leave at any time. But, that being said, you are going to pay more upfront for a brand new phone. This is why it's a good idea to get a slightly older phone or take advantage of a really good deal. Deals pop up quite often on prepaid plans because they need to compete with all of the other providers out there. This leads me to the second reason to consider prepaid cell phone plans.

• 2) Great Deals. The beautiful thing about prepaid phone plans is that you can often find really good deals on great phones. For instance, right now you can find pretty good offers on the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3, two of the best selling phones from last year. You might be wondering why you can get a pretty good deal on these phones from prepaid providers. The reason is that they are both about a year old and there are newer versions of the phones coming out, the iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4. See how this works? If you are smart about it, you can find a solid deal on a slightly older but brand new smartphone. Now you have your prepaid smartphone, but just how good are prepaid plans? Let's move on to point three.

3) Unlimited Plans. Most of the prepaid phone companies that offer high end smartphones have unlimited plans. This makes sense because smartphones need a lot of data and texting capabilities. Otherwise, what's the point? Companies like Boost Mobile (Sprint owned), Virgin Mobile (Sprint owned), Straight Talk Wireless (America Movil owned), and Cricket all have unlimited phone plans that operate with their better quality phones like iPhone 5 (at the moment all of the providers above have the iPhone 5).

4) Great Phone Selection. I touched on this above already, but I'd like to highlight it once more here. Prepaid cell phone companies are now providing really good phones for use on their plans. It hasn't always been this way. Three years ago, you would not have been that impressed with the smartphone selection most pay as you go companies had in their lineups. They were older phones and just not impressive. You would be more likely to find an older Motorola flip phone a few years out of date rather than anything too desirable. This has changed, and now that you can own an iPhone 5 with out contract, the rules of the game are never going to be the same. More selection-between prepaid companies and contract companies-is a really good thing for people looking for the plan and phone that works best for them.

5) Save Money. You won't typically save money on the actual phone you use with your prepaid plan unless you're opting for a lower end phone, in which case you can get a very good deal. For instance, with Boost Mobile, you can get a low end Kyocera smartphone and save a bunch of money. You can get a Tracfone of Cricket flip phone and save bunch of money. It really depends on what kind of phone you want. Even though you may pay full price for your prepaid smartphone, you will probably save money on your prepaid plan. With Virgin Mobile's iPhone 5, you can pay only $35 per month for 300 anytime minutes and unlimited data. For 1200 minutes, you're going to pay $45, which is just about equivalent with the unlimited plans you can get from Boost Mobile, Cricket, Straight Talk, and Net10.
Conclusion: Should You Buy a Prepaid Phone?

My answer to this question is that it totally depends on what you're looking for out of your cell phone. Just like I wouldn't be able to recommend a minivan or a sedan to someone who I don't know unless I know what they're looking for, I can't tell you with any conviction whether or not you should buy a prepaid phone. What I do know and what I hope you've pulled from this article is that there have never been more prepaid options than there are now. One of the reasons people used to NOT buy prepaid phones is that they couldn't get the new high end phones with this type of plan.

However, that trend is starting to disappear as more and more high end phones like iPhone and HTC One V are being made available with prepaid plans. I would take a look at what you pay for your cell phone bill every month and decide whether or not you could save by switching to a prepaid plan. For instance, if you are paying $80 per month to Verizon to use your iPhone 5, but you rarely pick up the phone to call anyone, you might save money by using the Virgin Mobile unlimited plan with 300 talk time minutes for only $35 per month. Of course, you need to check the coverage of the phone plan to see if it works for you. This is the type of analysis I think will help you make the appropriate decision in regards to your next cell phone purchase.

5-of-advantages-using-linux

Often, whenever I recommend for someone to try Linux or for them to use it instead of their current operating system, I'll get asked "Why should I use Linux?" or "What's so great about Linux?"

There are many advantages to using Linux over other operating system, and in this article I'll list just a few out of a list of so many.

Linux is Free

Usually considered one of the biggest reasons for someone to use Linux is that it's free. It's free in both price and is free as in freedom.

Linux can be downloaded and installed onto your computer completely free of charge, and from there you're free to customize and change the operating system however you see fit.

Much of the software and applications available for Linux are also open-source and free of charge. If there's a program that costs you money, chances are there will be a free open-source alternative you can use.

Fewer Viruses

Not only are fewer viruses made to infect Linux, but with how Linux is designed the few viruses that are made for it can't do much harm.

Because Linux doesn't have anything similar to the registry in Windows for viruses to install themselves to and it doesn't give up root (Administrator) privileges easily, viruses don't affect Linux as much as other operating systems.

Also, virus makers tend to ignore the minority and will often go after operating systems that have a larger user-base, and because so few people are currently using Linux, that makes Linux users the minority.

Linux is Fast

Anyone that has ever used Linux will agree that it's incredibly fast, and with boot times less than half that of its rivals.

It accomplishes this through a mixture of it's small hard drive footnote (Some Linux distributions only use 50MB of your hard drive), the type of file system(s) it uses, and its simple design all help to make Linux a very fast operating system.

Since Linux primarily uses the ext3 and ext4 file systems, you almost never have to defragment your hard drive and you wont experience your computer's speed diminishing over time like operating systems that use the NTFS or FAT32 file systems.

Increased Stability

Because Linux is primarily used as a operating system for servers, it is by design, meant to be very stable. You will rarely experience random crashes our computer lock ups and freezes when using Linux, and if you do it usually will only require a simple fix to get things back to normal.

Which Linux distribution you choose will determine how stable your operating system install will be. Some Linux distributions will rarely update, sometimes only updating once a year or two.

While keeping things updated may sound like a good idea, unless the updates have been thoroughly tested they can often cause many issues, and so distributions like Slackware and Debian will keep updates to a minimum to ensure maximum stability and will only issue updates after they have been tested to perfection.

For those of you who wish to have the latest updates and bleeding edge features, you have the option to install a different distribution that will update more frequently.

Regardless of the frequency of updates, thanks to the basic design of Linux, all distributions are very stable.

The Community

In my opinion, one of the greatest things about Linux is its community. There are many websites and forums full of helpful and knowledgeable people that will aid you in your journey to learning Linux.

While every community will have its fair share of bad eggs, in my experience these are few and far between. By and large, most of the Linux community will be some of the most helpful people you could ever wish to meet.

Conclusion

There you have it, five excellent advantages to using Linux over other operating systems. While there are many more reasons to use Linux (And even some to not use it), my advice would be to just try it and come to your own conclusions. Perhaps after trying it you'll have your own list of advantages as well.

4-sync-makes-online-storage-eas

You have probably read about Google's attempts at "cloud" storage or at Dell's "cloud" storage" servers or, possibly, Microsoft's "SkyDrive," however, if you notice that each of these is run by a major computer firm and it is tied to their service, however, that does not have to be the case at all.

With 4Sync, while it is still located off-site on "cloud" drives owned by an ISP, it is local enough to allow you to sync all of your: videos; files; photos; slide shows; workgroup projects and more.

4Sync allows you up to 15GB of free storage space and you are limited by your subscription as to the amount of additional storage you can purchase and use. It is a very quick process when you upgrade a single office or group of workgroup machines than it is to upgrade and synchronize a large enterprise system.

The key to 4Sync, though, is the fact that while you are saving your files across the "cloud" to another remote site - like the major ones already mentioned - you are focusing, still, on the files that make sense and affect your business or family.

The nice piece to 4Sync is that, using its wizard and login, you can have access to files and upgrade them from virtually anywhere on the net without resorting to the need to log into major companies, whose Cloud services do work well, but they usually are far more enterprise-oriented than is 4Sync.

4Sync allows you to sync up your devices, drop the results in your organizations "bucket," if you will allow the analogy, and then when you want to look at just your files or photos, you just log into your account and there they are.

You can share your files across Windows or Apple systems or, with the right app, you can use an Android-controlled system to access and watch your or sync the data you have in your "bucket."

And, while it is not as quick as some of the enterprise-oriented systems such as SkyDrive or Google's "cloud" system, you will find that you can share your personal files with only those people with whom you want to share them with, knowing that they are safely stored on a smaller, more personal system. It is an interesting concept in "personal cloud computing", specially for those smartphone users who until recently had not so many options for their personal online storage.

4-inclusions-of-microsoft-its-next-xbox

If I worked from Microsoft's games department, I would confidently say that the Xbox 360 succeeded. The content leaped and bounded everything the Xbox originally brought to the table. Going into the next console generation, the next Xbox must improve the formula used for the Xbox 360. We've seen an increase in Xbox Live support, the controller, and entertainment options. There must be more of that without going overboard.

These are 4 improvements the next Xbox should have in order to make it a console that exceeds the success of the Xbox 360. It doesn't have to have all of these of these out of the gate, but at some point during the consoles life cycle, it should.

1. Make It Upgradeable

Microsoft supports the PC by releasing games for it as well as making its OS somewhat friendly towards it. Their console, on the other hand, is specifically for people who want to buy a gaming platform, and play it without having to worry about upgrading it. They should progress that idea.

Gaming PCs are expensive, so it would be beneficial for Microsoft to release its next Xbox traditionally as a console, which means a cheaper price with cheaper hardware, but with the ability to upgrade it. Both types of consumers would be satisfied. The ones who don't want to buy an expensive PC or upgrade their console can play games with the latest console technology. Those who don't want to buy an expensive PC but still want something they can upgrade, can with the upgradeable console.

All the options are left in the players hands. Those who want to buy a PC and upgrade their PC will do that but those who want a vanilla console can get that but with the option to upgrade it, similar to a PC. Developers can develop PC games that function with the Xbox also which makes developing for the next Xbox easier.

2. Lose the Xbox Arcade and Indie sections and Add Steam Support

This would go against Microsoft's moneymaking goals I'm sure, but it would be better for them. The Indie section for Xbox Live doesn't get enough exposure, so why keep it. What about Xbox Live Arcade? Lose that too. There is a market for it, but they could probably earn more money through royalties from adding Steam while Steam would earn greater exposure--and more money. If they decided to keep Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft should put games that people have exclusively made for it.

Also, with digital downloading increasing, it's the perfect match for a console.

3. Leave the Controller Layout Alone. Fix the D-pad.

We've come to live with the current poor excuse for a directional pad that Microsoft gave to us, and we're constantly reminded how bad it is every time we touch it. Even the redesigned D-pad found on the newest controllers doesn't cut it. Simply because of their controller, Microsoft is losing the fighting game genre and other D-pad dominant games.

With a complete controller, one that leaves the current layout with a better D-pad, there's no denying that it would be one of the most comfortable controllers ever made. There will be people who don't like the weight compared to the Dual Shock controller, but the comfort and ease of use will win people's hearts.

4. Xbox Live Integration between PC and Console

Now is the time to swing things full circle. Microsoft is touting new ways to do everything with the coming of Windows 8 and other technologies. Along with that, integration of Xbox Live with console and PC users would be a huge draw.

Imagine the amount of people that could play together simply by combining the two platforms. That's a lot of people. Microsoft would hold the largest online gaming user base. That's a positive for Microsoft. For the players, more players is always a plus. No need to worry about controller issues either. The option of using a gamepad or PC controls is already offered on some games, so the thought of duking it out with a different controller format isn't farfetched. It's a win for everyone. Microsoft wouldn't lose much money either because PC gamers want to play on their PC while console gamers want to play on their console. So, merge.

The Xbox 360 improved everything the original Xbox offered. The next Xbox has a lot to live up to. These changes would put the next Xbox in a league of its own. Some of it may be fantasy but if Microsoft can see the potential user base and not just the dollars, fantasy could become reality and they could see their greatest console run ever.