Good Stuff Electronical

Just thought I’d share a few electronic tips while they’re on my mind.

Verizon iPhone

My AT&T iPhone 3GS just died. The battery went kaflooeey, and it was cheaper to pay the termination fee than to get the battery replaced. (Apple goes out their way to make this difficult.)

And that’s okay because I’ve developed a deep and abiding distain for AT&T’s cell phone service. I mean, it works everywhere except my office (downtown Tuscaloosa), my house, the football stadium (AT&T is the official wireless provider of the Alabama Crimson Tide), the basketball colisseum, and the major roads between my house and downtown. And it doesn’t work during rush hour in Tuscaloosa if you’re close to Highway 82 — and everywhere in Tuscaloosa is close to Highway 82.

Just the other day, following an Alabama basketball game, several people had parked illegally and their cars had been towed. Fortunately, they had cell phones to call the city to get their cars back. Unfortunately, they had AT&T service (official provider of wireless service for the Alabama Crimson Tide) — and they couldn’t make a call — 9:00 at night on the University campus. A friend of theirs had a Verizon phone and rescued them by letting them take turns with his phone.

But Verizon’s 3G has been proven to be slower than AT&T’s 3G service (maybe half as slow with 5 AT&T bars, which may be found in West Alabama anywhere within 6 inches of a cell tower)  — when you can get a good signal from AT&T. When you can’t get a good AT&T signal, Verizon’s service is infinitely better.

So now, at my house, I can receive calls, understand what the other person says, and have no drops! I’ve not had a dropped call since I got my new phone — versus nearly every AT&T call for the last few months.

I can’t speak for anywhere else in the country, but AT&T service here is terrible. Get a Verizon iPhone. Get a Verizon any-kind-of-phone. Drop AT&T just like they drop your calls.

iolo System Mechanic

My wife’s computer used to crash all the time. This doesn’t happen to my computer or the computers my four sons have, but it happens to my wife and to my daughter-in-law. And I’m fairly computer literate and have never been able to find a cause. In desperation, I bought my wife a new Dell Windows 7 computer, loading only name-brand software, and only if she really needs it. I updated everything. I installed state-of-the-art anti-virus and anti-malware software. And the crashes came back. Silicon must be allergic to estrogen, I figure.

But I’ve fixed it! After YEARS of late night emergency computer repair sessions, the crashes have stopped. The solution? iolo System Mechanic.

I’ve tried similar utilities before, and they were all far more trouble than they were worth — and often replaced one problem with another. But this program runs in the background, monitors the registry and other OS operations, and fixes things. I’ve not had to fix her computer since I installed it! (I just HAD to share the good news.)

Be sure to get the latest version, and just buy one copy, because the license extends to 3 computers.

Now if I can just get the wireless printer to work consistently …

Cisco-Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit RouterLinksys WRT310N

When the N-speed routers came out, I tried out a few. I wasn’t happy until I tried out the Cisco-Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router.

It works (after I updated the BIOS). It never breaks. My kids have LAN parties, and they can have several kids all connected and play their games with no problem. It’s FAST. More important, it keeps on running. I’ve not had to reboot it in months.

About Jay F Guin

My name is Jay Guin, and I’m a retired elder. I wrote The Holy Spirit and Revolutionary Grace about 18 years ago. I’ve spoken at the Pepperdine, Lipscomb, ACU, Harding, and Tulsa lectureships and at ElderLink. My wife’s name is Denise, and I have four sons, Chris, Jonathan, Tyler, and Philip. I have two grandchildren. And I practice law.
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7 Responses to Good Stuff Electronical

  1. Rich W says:

    Jay,

    We finally agree on something! I have had Verizon ever since my wife's first bag phone. I've rescued many an AT&T, Sprint and other phone user over the years. I can't remember the last dropped call I received.

  2. JMF says:

    I'm with you, Jay. I am in Missouri (well, currently I'm living in Destin temporarily…hey, I may have to take u to lunch on my way home…u game?), and I am about to drop our att for Verizon. Our local Verizon rep said he is going to work to give us a deal to balance out our cancellation costs.

    As this post has to do with random recommendations, I'd like to plug the book, "The 4 Hour Body" by Timothy Ferriss (of "The 4 Hour Work Week" fame). Lots of great, cutting-edge info for those of us trying to lose weight, stay in shape, or become more physically fit. Lots of great info about getting over nagging injuries, etc. Advice on improving sleep, sex, etc. This book isn't just for guys…but it is pretty much just for guys. This is not a Christian book, so be expecting for words, etc. that you wouldn't hear at church.

    Ferriss is 34 (my age), and I'd say he is one of the defining thinkers of my generation, IMO. Fascinating guy.

  3. Jay Guin says:

    JMF,

    Glad to break bread with you over some barbecue. Just give me a date and time.

  4. X-Ray says:

    When are your sons going to introduce you to Linux? 🙂

  5. Jay Guin says:

    That's a character in Peanuts, right?

    OK — my kids do know all about Linux. Two are professional computer programmers. But I have to have an OS that runs BibleWorks, my kids insist on their computer games, and my wife likes her Outlook, iTunes, and photoediting software.

    But I do have a kid about to convert to Apple. At least I won't have to help with maintenance, because all I know about Apple is how to work an iPhone and iPod — and they cost too much.

  6. X-Ray says:

    At least you can give it a spin if you have an old computer lying around. You'd be surprised how much Ubuntu Linux can do. 🙂

  7. Rose Marie says:

    I live in rural north Missouri. US Cellular is the best service in our neck of the woods. Few dropped calls and more that 3 bars of service in most cases. However, down on Bear Creek bottom just three miles from my house as the crow flies, all service drops to negative bars!! If all signals are from towers, I can't figure that out because don't radio waves travel in more directions than direct directional patterns? This shows my electronical ignorance probably. Also I would give some recommendation to a product called IYogi for those pesky crashing problems. I am sure that this product is a company based in India………..was recommended to me by a McAffee service person located in India. I felt as if I were being scammed in a way by having this guy recommend his cousin's? product. But it works and Dell, Microsoft, and McAffee had failed to help this problem.

    And Jay, I wonder if you are right about estrogen………….hmmmm.

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