For December, we just enjoyed being in Florida and spending time with family and friends. While most people were shoveling snow, we watched sunrise on the beach on Christmas day in shorts and t-shirt.

We also bought ourselves some new toys. Technology gadgets are especially useful this year - see 'Technology Top 5 for 2009'. We're taking the leap to Smart phones and buying the Droid. This is actually a handheld computer and it will be changing the way we do many things, especially email. See the article below on using Gmail for all your mail. We also bought a Netbook computer, at $350 we think everyone should have one! Lastly, we want to encourage you to add computer maintenance and computer education to your New Year's Resolutions!

December Articles

So you don't miss anything, here's the other articles we've written this past month.
Upload Content to your Kindle
Wii Fit Exercise in an RV
Computing in the Clouds
Technology Top 5 for 2009
Picasa Tip: Cover Slides
Picasa Tip: Upgrading to 3.6
Picasa Tip: Framing a Picture

In this newsletter

• Using Gmail for All your Mail
• Netbooks
• Resolutions: Computer Maintenance and Learning

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Using Gmail for All your Mail

Jim just bought a Droid smartphone and he'll be able to read and write his email on that little device now. So, what does he do when he's sitting at his computer and sees the same email sitting in his Outlook inbox? He's using the web-based Gmail program to read all his mail on the Droid. And, Outlook is programmed to download his email to his computer - creating a duplicate set of email.

To eliminate this dilemma, he's decided to use Gmail for everything. The Gmail.com program can fetch his @geeksontour.com email and his @jimandchris.com mail as well as his @gmail.com mail. All 3 sets of email will be collected in his gmail.com inbox. Then he can use the web-based gmail program on his laptop, and be looking at the exact same thing from his Droid.

This is an example of 'Cloud Computing' where none of your data resides on your computer, rather it resides on the Internet ... in the clouds ... and you just use a computing device to connect to it.

You can use Gmail without using a gmail address

There are two ways to set up gmail to get email from your other addresses.

1. You can import all email and contacts from your other email. Then just use your @gmail.com address from that point forward.
   
   OR:
2. You can set up the gmail program to fetch your other email and collect it in your gmail inbox. You can also set gmail to automatically label the fetched email so you know where it came from.
   Using the 'Fetch' method means that people will continue to email you using your other address (e.g. @geeksontour.com) and gmail will make your responses be *from* your other address as well. Gmail will just be acting as your mail center for all the address you have set up.

The image below is a screenshot snippet of my gmail inbox. I have it fetching my @geeksontour.com email. Notice the green 'labels' telling me what email address each message was sent To. Only one message - the Daily Blog Tips - has no label, meaning it was actually sent to my @gmail.com address.

When I reply to a message, it will be 'From' the same account as it was To.

It fetches your email every few minutes.  It can also download an offline copy to your computer if you like, so you can work on your email even when you're not online.  But, with the Droid, when are we ever going to be offline?

Netbooks

Computers can only connect *everyone* if *everyone* has a computer. It has been widely accepted that this will happen when the cost of a personal computer drops below $100. We're not there yet, but the current crop of 'Netbooks' are a big step in the right direction. We just bought an Asus Netbook for $350.

It's called a Netbook because it's primary purpose is to connect you to the Net. As mentioned in the Gmail article above, if all your data is in the Clouds (on the Net) then it doesn't matter what device you use to access it.

In addition to being inexpensive, it's also very lightweight - under 3 pounds - and small. I can actually fit it in my purse (yes, it's a big purse!) And, it has a long-lasting battery. We have used it off and on for 2-3 days without having to recharge. The manufacturer claims 10.5 hours of battery life.

These Netbooks have been out for about 2 years now, but we waited for Windows 7. They are relatively low powered - usually coming with only 1GB of memory - so they couldn't run Vista and were being sold with XP. Once we got used to Vista, there's no way we could go back. Windows 7 works like Vista, but it's not so much of a memory hog.

The Netbook does not have a CD/DVD drive. It's meant to be a computer for people who just need their email, some web browsing and a little bit of managing pictures and documents. We think it is just perfect as a second computer for travelers who leave their main computer at home. The link below is the Netbook that we bought (pictured above.) If you buy one using this link, they will know that you were referred by Geeks on Tour.
ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 10.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Starter)

If you really want to see the future of personal computers, check out the plans for future 'One Laptop Per Child' $75 tablet computers. If you follow that link, it's a slide show - if you wait it will cycle to more pictures. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is on the leading edge of the movement for small, easy, durable, and inexpensive computers. It's a fascinating project - if you're interested, here's a video of the founder of OLPC - Nicholoas Negroponte. .

Computer Resolutions:

Computer Maintenance

Just a reminder to do your BUCS ... that's Backup, Update, Cleanup and Scan. Spending a little bit of time each week on BUCS will save you lots of $buck$ in the long run. See our Safe Computing seminar handout for more details.

Learn about your Computer

Also resolve to learn more about your computer and what you can do with it! They don't have to be so frustrating, and they really do some cool stuff when you know how. That's where we come in and here are some of our products that can help:

1. Geek DVD: Boot Camp Collection, a 40 page booklet and a DVD of tutorial videos on Computer Essentials (Windows XP), Vista: What's New, Wi-Fi and other Internet connections, Safe Computing, Misc computer tips
   Boot Camp Disk Welcome Video Book and DVD for only $20 plus S&H
2. Geek DVD: Traveler's Collection
   Includes Tutorial Videos on Picasa3, Blogger, Photostory 3, Google Earth/Maps
   Travelers' Disk Welcome Video DVD for $35
3. One year membership: 1 year of online access to *all* tutorial videos, including new releases. Joining now will give you immediate access.

Both Jim and I - and Odie - wish you and yours a very Happy and Prosperous and FUN New year!

That's all for now. We hope you learned something. Your next issue will be next month. Any questions, please email us. If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box - it's free. To see the archives of past newsletters, go to www.geeksontour.com/newsletters.

Happy Computing!

The Geeks on Tour website is an online classroom for Travelers who want to learn to use their computers for managing digital photos, making blogs, using maps and other online resources. Anyone can watch our free sample videos, read articles on our Computer Tips for Travelers Blog, sign up for our free monthly newsletter, or Picasa weekly tips. A small fee makes you a 'member' and you can then view any of our 160+ video tutorials on these subjects.