Search results matching tags 'technology' and 'safety'

How I Saved My Phone and Ruined My Dinner: True Tales of a Wet Gadget

Betsey Blanche — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:20:00 GMT

I was beginning to think my summer was cursed. First my car was totaled, and then my laptop became completely overwhelmed by my music and photo files that it barely turns on. It seemed only right that a third item would suddenly and strangely meet its end.

As I was settling in the other night to read DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little (which is great and must be the only Man Booker Prize winner set in Central Texas) I noticed a cup of water I'd left on the nearby table. "Well," I thought, "I'd better put that on the floor so I don't knock it over and spill it everywhere." The best intentions . . .

I turn my clock to check the time and as I do my cute little HTC MyTouch slips off the table and does a beautiful, vertical dive directly into my water glass. I cannot even tell you how impossible it seemed. It just so happens a similar event caused the death of my Blackberry Pearl last year. But this time I was equipped with the knowledge I needed to take action.

Step 1) Get it out of the water as fast as you can! I immediately swooped down and rescued my sweet, sweet phone from the water (probably while muttering to myself). Step 2) Cut off the power supply. This is perhaps the critical step. The combination of water and electrical circuits is a bad one. If your phone stays connected to a power source there will be trouble and destruction (of those circuits). While you're at it, go ahead and slide out your SIM card if you have one. Even if you phone is fried, your SIM card carries loads of valuable information that would be a shame to lose. After a bit of fumbling I managed to take off the back of the phone and remove the batter. Step 3) Gently dry off all the parts of the phone as well as you can. Out of desperation I just used the UT t-shirt I was wearing. Step 4) Dry it out. I scurried into the next room where I dumped a bag of dry white rice into an empty shoe box. The fact that I even had rice on hand is also rather extraordinary as I was in the middle of packing up my apartment and the only food items left included two bags of cornmeal (why? I have no idea) and this one, magical bag of rice. Step 5) Wait. I waited about 24 hours because I'm impatient. Luckily, that was enough time for my phone to have dried out and it turned right back on . . . omg! It actually worked. You can tell I was thrilled because OMG is not something I utter often.

The dry rice trick is gaining popularity but I have to admit that I had my doubts until I tried it myself. It works because dry rice is a desiccant just like silica gel, calcium chloride and calcium sulfate. The difference is that dry rice is something you're likely to actually have on hand. It may ruin your evening stir fry plans but I'd certainly rather spend $0.89 to replace rice than however much it would cost to replace your phone.

Some Don'ts

Don't try to turn on your phone before it's had time to really dry out
Don't try to dry it using something warm like a hair dryer. The heat may get the water dried up but it causes damage of its own.
Don't try to turn on your phone before it's dry (I know this is a repeat. But I had to learn the hard way last time).

Photo from Flickr User benmarvin

Developments in Google Maps

Betsey Blanche — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:50:00 GMT

Although this is not hot-off-the-presses news, I've been wanting to mention some developments in Google Maps.

I love that Google is constantly trying to think outside the box and develop new tools for users. It's true that sometimes they execute a plan without seriously thinking it through. You may recall the controversy brought about by Google's Street View for instance. Or they're more recent mistake of information sharing via Google Buzz. Despite some of these errors in judgment, Google also just makes cool stuff sometimes.

In the Maps department they have, of course, the driving directions which I generally find accurate and easy to use. In addition, they have added walking, biking and public transportation directions. Google is still working the kinks out of the biking portion and tell users clearly that the directions are in beta. As more people use the service and comment on the effectiveness (and safety) of directions these are likely to improve significantly. What's interesting is the difference between their walking directions and biking directions. The service takes things like traffic and one-way streets into account when giving bikers directions, helping two-wheeled pedestrians avoid heavy traffic and hostile automobiles.

Google also gives directions based on local public transportation. This reminds me of the old Google. The one whose mantra was "don't be evil." Not only does the service provide accurate information about local buses and light rail schedules, it also calculates the dollar amount you're saving by taking public transportation rather than driving. Sometimes the cost of driving is less but often you'll find that taking the bus can save you a bit of cash (in addition to providing a bit of time for quality reading!). Google also offers a brief explanation of how they calculate the driving cost which is nice to know.

I always appreciate a company or business that makes a quality product and then stops to consider how it could be made even more effective for their users. By taking into account the various ways people move from place to place, Google is able to create a great tool and, in a small way, encourage users to rely on multiple forms of transportation.

Edit PDFs Without Buying Expensive Software

Betsey Blanche — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:41:00 GMT

Ninety percent of the time, I prefer communicating via email rather than making a phone call, mailing something or (especially) faxing. This is especially true when it comes to applications or other PDF documents. Like the library computers, most individuals only have access to Adobe Reader, rather than a more sophisticated version of the software which allows you to edit and save PDFs.

An easy workaround presents itself in the form of FillAnyPDF. This site allows you to upload a PDF so that you can enter text into blank fields and then save the document. (FYI, you have the option of creating an account or just going straight to editing your document). By doing so, you can simply email the form on to the intended recipient rather than mailing or faxing it. The site also allows you to change font size, blackout, whiteout or highlight text. After entering all your text, click the download button at the bottom of the page and then save the PDF to your computer or memory device of choice.

I will caution you that there is no clear information on the security of the site so you may want to think twice before using it for confidential information. I have, however, seen the site recommended by several blogs which take security into consideration when evaluating a product or service which I find comforting. What other workarounds do you use for editing PDFs? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

More Tips on Internet Safety

Betsey Blanche — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:31:00 GMT

It’s a busy week here at the library but I thought I would take a moment to pass on a blog post I read recently about avoiding online scams. We’ve all seen those suspicious emails and too-good-to-be-true offers and wondered if this time, they might just be real. This post offers great tips on considering the reliability of websites and emails. It also links to another post on choosing strong passwords. I regret that my last two posts have been about security on the web but I think it’s important that we educate ourselves so that we can make the most of our web experiences.

The full article can be found at Lifehacker: The Complete Guide to Avoiding Online Scams