Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Chat to Rob & Marg during their trip around the block!
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Rob & Marg
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Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by Rob & Marg » Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:05 am

There’s a good reason one of my nicknames is ‘GeekGirl’ (or Grandma Geek!) – I love my tech toys and software! Rob just sighs and rolls his eyes as he calculates the added weight of my laptop, pocket camera, backup hard drives, USB thumb drives, printer, iPad, Kindle and so on and so on…

Future DVDs will feature a new segment on “Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips” (couldn’t let Rob hog the Tech Tips, could I??? :-) If you want to ask any questions or tell me about neat new stuff, fire away!

[Note: I’m NOT an expert in information technology or computers… I just like playing with all these things.]

Cheers
Marg :-)

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by wonga » Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:50 pm

Hi Marg Can you tell me what internet system you are using while your travelling, eg: wireless broadband, satelite ect. We will be doing the same thing next year and taking 2 years to look around.
Cheers
hope to hear from you soon
cheryl

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by Frank & Brenda » Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:42 pm

WONGA, take your email address out of the post mate, and put it in your profile
where only members can see them, you are leaving yourself open to spam mail attack put it where the whole world (literally) can see it.
Frank

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by wonga » Tue Aug 24, 2010 9:37 pm

Thanks :oops:

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by Rob & Marg » Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:36 pm

Hi Cheryl,

We switched to using the BigPond Home Gateway (NextG wireless internet) six months before we started travelling. We like it because we can use it both at home and on the road… all we have to do is unplug it from home and plug it in in the caravan!

We use the Home Gateway because we can network both my laptop and Rob’s to the internet and printer. (When we use the USB modem we can’t both access the internet at the same time.)

We also have a prepaid Telstra NextG dongle (USB modem) as a backup, so if we know we’re going to be staying in free camps or on unpowered sites we can still use the internet.

We have a printer cabinet built into the caravan with a power point behind the printer. (Since the printer is wireless, we don’t have to have a cable linking it to the computer.)

Here’s a picture of the BigPond Home Gateway:



Cheers
Marg

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by Niva64 » Wed Aug 25, 2010 7:16 am

Hi Marg
Good to see a lady taking over the Computers and Gadget page as I am like you, love my technolgy, hubby is a technophobe as is quite happy for me to bring along all my gadgets. Having been working in IT ever since computers were first introduced and I have had to have any new gadget that came out, impresses the grandkids that I am so up to date with all their gadgets. Am able to format, install new hardware and have even at one stage built my own computer from scratch.

I take my laptop with me anywhere , so am interested to find out what ISP people are using and what gives the best coverage, so hope we get a few posts before we go on the big one next year. Love your articles and DVD hope to meet you on the road.

Niva64

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by Rob & Marg » Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:31 pm

Hi Niva,

Well, I’m nowhere near as cluey as you are when it comes to technology… but I can see we are on the same wavelength here! I would much rather browse a Harvey Norman Computer Superstore catalogue than one from a jewellery store. I always want the next generation of hardware and software! Hopeless…

You know what I love? That I can download books from Amazon to my Kindle AND to my iPad. Then… if I read a book on my Kindle in sunlight outside, then switch to my iPad at night, it syncs the versions on both. I open my iPad… and the book opens exactly where I left off on the Kindle! Magic. (I shared this exciting info with Rob and he gave me a tolerant smile while he got that ‘tell someone who cares’ look in his eyes… then wandered off to check the tyres on the van or something. Humph.)

Meanwhile, like you, I tend to be the first port of call for my sons if they want to know something about computers (except for No. 1 son who works in IT). The other three phone up and ask me things like “How do I get the photos off my camera onto the computer? Then how do I burn them to a CD?”

My 7-year old grandson is, of course, a whiz. He plays World of Warcraft on a dedicated keyboard.

We must catch up on the road and bore our husbands stupid while we enthuse about our tech toys!

Cheers
Marg :-)

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by billy the kid » Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:09 pm

Rob & Marg wrote:Hi Niva,

Well, I’m nowhere near as cluey as you are when it comes to technology… but I can see we are on the same wavelength here! I would much rather browse a Harvey Norman Computer Superstore catalogue than one from a jewellery store. I always want the next generation of hardware and software! Hopeless…

You know what I love? That I can download books from Amazon to my Kindle AND to my iPad. Then… if I read a book on my Kindle in sunlight outside, then switch to my iPad at night, it syncs the versions on both. I open my iPad… and the book opens exactly where I left off on the Kindle! Magic. (I shared this exciting info with Rob and he gave me a tolerant smile while he got that ‘tell someone who cares’ look in his eyes… then wandered off to check the tyres on the van or something. Humph.)

Meanwhile, like you, I tend to be the first port of call for my sons if they want to know something about computers (except for No. 1 son who works in IT). The other three phone up and ask me things like “How do I get the photos off my camera onto the computer? Then how do I burn them to a CD?”

My 7-year old grandson is, of course, a whiz. He plays World of Warcraft on a dedicated keyboard.

We must catch up on the road and bore our husbands stupid while we enthuse about our tech toys!

Cheers
Marg :-)
Hi Marg, I’m stuck at home waiting for my new caravan . What is a kindle?

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Re: Marg’s Tech(nology) Tips – Computers & Gadgets

Post by Niva64 » Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:46 am

Hi Marg
Oh finally a girl after own heart, I am a frequent visitor to Dick Smith Superstore and just stand a gaze around the way some women do at Myer or DJ’s. It brings to mind when the Ipad was released I went down to the Dick Smith store with my daughter and stood there an played for ages with it, till my daughter ended up dragging me away, :lol:my daughter has promised me a Kindle for Xmas as a going away present as I am also a great reader and do not want to cart around a load of books. I frequently download books from our local library and put them to my Ipod, was invaluable when I travelled on the train to work to sit back and relax and listen to my books.
Like yourself I am the first port of call for problems with my kids computers, have even fixed my son’s computer remotely and he is in WA. Taught the grandkids at an early age all about them and they had a heads up when they went to school, they are rapidly catching up but still need Nan for some of the more complex problems. :rolleyes:
I have always believed that computers are just a progression from the fountain pen the biro and typewriters etc. and this is our kids future so any mature people out there that think they can’t do it have a go it opens up a whole new world. :mrgreen: (color]

Anyway don’t want to bore you too much but look forward to your future posts.

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What is a Kindle?

Post by Rob & Marg » Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:07 pm

Hi Billy the Kid,

A Kindle is an e-book reader that you can buy from Amazon.com. You can download books from their website onto the Kindle and read it inside or outside (it’s not like a computer screen that is almost impossible to read in bright sunlight… it uses e-ink, which can be read easily outside.)

You don’t have to sign up for an internet account when you buy a Kindle, either… Amazon use their ‘Whispernet’ service to let you access their website, browse, and download books.

You can download a sample of any book you’re interested in to see whether you like it… very handy!

You can read more about the Kindle here:

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-R … B002FQJT3Q

When are you expecting your new caravan? That’s exciting!

Cheers
Marg

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