The private browsing feature (available in all major web browsers) is something most people don’t use simply for the reason it can prove to be inconvenient.

For the most part, people use the private browsing feature so the browser doesn’t retain any cookies. Well, you don’t need to use private browsing to get that feature in Firefox, as you can simply instruct the browser to auto-dump cookies on exit. Check out the above video to see how it’s done.

Well, fortunately there’s an alternative that works nice-and-speedy like it’s supposed to.

There’s one more debate to go on Monday, 22 October. Put this site in your bookmarks:

http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2012-presidential-debate-schedule/

You can watch the full previous debates there, and then when 22-Oct rolls around, a link will be dropped near the bottom so you can watch it live on a live video feed that actually works correctly.

This is how I’ve been watching the debates, and it works like it’s supposed to. I understand youtube.com/politics gave it its best shot, but.. the delivery of content was (and still is) beyond awful because of technical screw-ups. Way too much scripting, way too heavy on load.. it’s just bad. The link above on the other hand isn’t and works proper.

The FCC has officially allowed AT&T to use a portion of the 2.3GHz spectrum.

Some of you may be thinking, “Gee.. that’s awful close to 2.4GHz. Will this affect my Wi-Fi router?” No. The application of the spectrum is totally different compared to your Wi-Fi router, so that’s nothing you need to worry about.

The entire reason why it’s taken this long for AT&T to get approved to use part of the 2.3GHz spectrum is directly because of Sirius XM satellite radio. AT&T had to work closely with Sirius to make sure neither service would interrupt each other. They were able to hammer out and agreement about what could and could not be used, and now wireless broadband can coexist along with Sirium XM radio on the 2.3GHz band.

Yes, this is progress.

Note on linked article above: The title of it is totally misleading, as the students are not being “micro-chipped”; it’s just a card and not an implant.

As far as children in schools being tracked as to where they are at any given moment, yes I can see the value of that from an administration perspective. However there’s a darker side to this which could spell out disaster quite easily.

Aside from the Big-Brother-Extreme crapola going on here, let’s take a realistic view at what could happen.

The first thought I had was, “Gee.. wouldn’t it be really easy for students to simply swap cards with each other?”

Example scenario: One student swaps his card with someone else. Then one of those students vandalizes something. Later on the students swap cards back again. Guess who gets pinched? The wrong student.

You may say, “Well, school administration would have to confirm who actually did the vandalizing from video surveillance footage.” Are you sure they’d actually check, or would administration just explicitly trust the technology instead without confirming?

And of course, you know the students know where cameras are pointing, and more importantly where they’re not.

Now think about this: How long do you think it would take for students to realize that those ID cards are valuable, to the point where they get stolen and used for bad things so they can pin the blame on others?

Remember, we’re not talking about responsible adults here, we’re talking about kids. Kids who if upon discovery of finding a way to exploit weaknesses in the system will do so.

While I’m sure administration is adequately instructing their students not to lose their cards, are they also instructing not to swap them with others? Probably not.

Consider that any stolen card is physical identity theft. Wherever that card goes, administration will simply assume whoever is holding the card is the true owner.

If I were a high school student, you can bet anything I’d purposely mess with administration on purpose just for the comedy factor, such as purposely taking my ID card and putting it under a drop-tile in the ceiling (they’d never find it). Or maybe running my card up the flagpole. Or taping it to a frisbee and then whizzing that on the roof of the buliding. Or taping the card under one of the toilets in the girl’s bathroom. Believe me, I could find many ways of ticking off administration just to laugh at them because of that card. I’d have them running in circles trying to find the stupid thing and take class-clowning to a whole new level. I’d be on double-secret probation in no time…

Anyway..

Yeah, I can’t see this RFID-chipped ID card thing working too well. Ultimately, students will ruin the system, either from card swapping or class-clowning with them. And it doesn’t take a lot to ruin the system because the idea of it is just flawed to begin with. With cameras and physical eyes watching, yeah, that works. As for chipped cards.. no. Total recipe for disaster.

As anyone learned in digital cameras is aware, more megapixels does not equal better quality photos, and even if a modern smartphone matches what your digital camera can do, that still doesn’t mean the photos it takes are any good.

My digital camera is a now-old FujiFilm A820, which has “only” 8.3 megapixels of resolution to it.

Even though my A820 runs on two AA batteries and is considered “bulky” by today’s standards, it will always shoot photos better than the Lumia 800 for one very simple reason: It has a bigger and better lens.

You can go on about electronic features all day long, but at the end of the day it’s the lens that will make or break a camera.

Now I’ll totally admit that smartphone makers have engineered some very clever electronic ways to compensate for the fact smartphones have such crappy tiny lenses in them (all in the name of being “thin and convenient”), but the fact of the matter is that a smartphone is not a camera; it’s a phone first and always will be.

Cameras with chintzy lenses are slapped into smartphones and tablets as a feature-add, and the only selling point of that feature has always been the megapixels. Well, it doesn’t matter how many megapixels you stuff into a smart device, because you’ll always be fighting against the fact the lens is so small.

Another thing you’ll be fighting against with a smartphone’s camera is zoom and focus. Cheap point-and-shoot cameras with bigger lenses have a real motor in them for optical zoom, which makes it easy to focus on a subject whether far away or for close-up macro stuff. With the smartphone it’s mainly (if not exclusively) digital-only land.

Example photo I took with my old A820:

I don’t claim the above photo of my crappy cell phone to be “masterful” by any means (especially since you can see paper towel ‘fuzz’ on the OK button and other places even after cleaning the thing); the point is that there is absolutely no way I can get a shot like this from a smartphone because it simply doesn’t have the proper lens to do it. With a point-and-shoot however, I can do it.

To note, yes I have taken photos with “good” smartphones, and have seen plenty of other photos by others with premium-grade smartphone stuff, but that little lens just doesn’t cut it.

When you want real detail be it a distant or close-up subject, traditional digital cameras (even the cheap ones) still trounce smartphones easily.

Yes, modern smartphones can take photos way better than they used to and there’s no denying that. But the cheap point-and-shoot digital camera with the better lens and real working motor for optical zoom and true macro capability will pretty much universally take better photos.

On a final note, if you like the way your smartphone takes photos, then by all means keep using it. The message I’m sending here is to not to fall for the promise big megapixels and super-high-software-tech being able to magically compsensate for a tiny lens, because that’s simply not happening.

Personally, I find the best destination to be Apple Authorized Reseller shops. These are guys and gals that refit/rebuild/refurbish Macs to as-good-as-new condition, and most of the time offer a from-shop warranty as well.

One such company (based in Tampa Bay just like PCMech) is Mac of All Trades. No, they are not the cheapest. But you do get the same quality level of build you would out of an Apple Store (in fact, probably better).

The first thing I like about MoAT is that they very clearly differentiate between the like-new and what they call the “B grade” items. B grade stuff are items that have cosmetic issues, scuffs, scratches, etc. – and bear in mind they’re being very up-front and honest about it.

My first recommendation is to start with B grade and see the prices there. You’ll see very reasonable prices for Apple hardware there.

It is most likely true you’ll probably be wanting a Macbook. If so, DO NOT buy the Macbook in white, affectionately known as the “Crackbook”, and this is why. Stay away from those things. Only the white Macbooks exhibit that cracking symptom, and ALL of them do it. Stick with the silver-colored chassis and you’re okay.

The next question you have is probably the warranty. It’s 90 days, which is more than enough time to find out whether your used Mac will have anything terribly wrong with it. However – and this is the cool part – you can extend that to 15 months through MoAT. And even better is the fact they will incur the shipping costs with the extended warranty. That’s awesome.

MoAT is obviously not the only Apple Authorizer Reseller shop there is, and chances are there’s one where you live that’s close by. If you’re getting the itch for a Mac but don’t want to sell your first born to get one, the AAR shops are where you go.

On a final note, do not buy Macs from eBay or Craigslist. Just don’t do it. There are way too many “sellers” on there who outright stole the Macs from other dealers or schools and are looking to make a quick buck. Should you buy one that way, you run the risk of being in possession of stolen merchandise (which in turn can put you in big trouble) and it’s just not worth the risk. Buy from an AAR, save a buck that way on Apple hardware, and you won’t have to worry about any of the stolen-merchandise crapola.

Using portable apps when bouncing between your laptop and desktop is convenient because those little cards stay tucked out of the way and perform well…

…if you have the right card.

Before continuing, for anyone that would ask why anyone would use an SDHC card when most modern software, files and so on can be synchronized via the internet, the answer is that the card is most of the time faster when used sneakernet style. While you couldn’t really sneakernet apps with floppy diskettes or optical discs, you can with SD cards. And given their compact size, they don’t stick out like USB sticks do.

Rule #1: Class 10 or better only

The best way I can give a mostly-accurate definition of the memory card classes is to compare it to USB 2.0.

While there are literal figures for what the read and write rates are for USB 2.0 and classes of memory cards, it’s the practical application that counts more than anything else.

USB 2.0 has an effective throughput of 35 MB/s. Most (but not all) Class 10 SDHC cards have a data rate of 30 MB/s. In practical application, USB 2.0 and Class 10 SDHC will “feel about the same speed”.

Concerning Class 10 with a UHS-I or UHS-II classification, these can supposedly outrun USB 2.0 speeds. Right now the UHS-I spec is readily available (Sandisk Extreme is an example), however it’s a toss-up whether or not in practical application it will be faster than USB 2.0.

Rule #2: Not all Class 10 cards are the same

On some Class 10′s the data rate is 10 MB/s. On others it’s 20 MB/s. And then you have the 20-to-30 MB/s range before you get into UHS territory.

The only thing I can say here is that you may or may not get good data rates, and to read reviews thoroughly before buying a card.

Rule #3: Digital camcorder guys do not exclusively dictate whether a card is “good” or not

Most people use Class 10 cards in devices such as digital cameras, camcorders and smartphones.

If a guy writes a review and says that the Class 10 card “didn’t work well in his camcorder at all”, that’s one to ignore because for all you know, it could be the guy’s camcorder that’s the problem.

The reviews that actually apply to you more than anything else are those that use the card in a smartphone, because they’re running actual apps off it – similar to what you’ll be doing.

SD cards are good tech, but you have to shop carefully

With USB 2.0 you can pretty much buy any pendrive and the performance will be roughly the same as long as it’s not some bargain-bin no-name thing (i.e. use Patriot or Kingston and you should be good in that department).

With memory cards, the data rate can vary wildly depending on what you get. From my reading of memory card reviews, Sandisk “Extreme” series (expensive) and Transcend (cheap) usually seem to make people happy the most.

But don’t take my word for it. Shop around, shop smart, read a lot of reviews and make sure whomever you buy from has a good return policy, because you may have to use it if you get a bum card that doesn’t perform as expected.

Is smooth scrolling any good?

I don’t define smooth scrolling as outright “good” or “bad”, because it all comes down to what you prefer to see happen on your screen when you scroll.

What I will say is that having smooth scrolling enabled can make some web pages easier to read. The traditional “jump by line” method of scrolling can sometimes cause you to lose your place when reading text on-screen, whereas with smooth scrolling you don’t lose your place…

…mostly. When using smooth scrolling, you do have to do things slightly different to get used to it.

Using the up/down arrow keys on your keyboard

This is without a doubt the best way to use smooth scrolling on a desktop web browser. The lines that are scrolled whenever you use up/down are done in a “civilized” way, where it’s purposely a bit slower and smoother when you use them.

The only thing you have to make sure of is that the browser is currently in focus to use the up/down arrow keys, else scrolling won’t work at all; this is easily done just by clicking anywhere inside the current browser window once, and then you can up/down to your heart’s content.

Using the mouse wheel

Unfortunately for most desktop browsers, using the mouse wheel in a browser with smooth scrolling enabled is nothing short of a nightmare. Why? Because most of the time it “scrolls too much”. Whereas with up/down arrow keys you have civilized scrolling, the wheel more often than not makes your web page take a flying scroll leap, almost to the point of being unusable.

If you use the Firefox browser, fortunately there’s a way you can set the scroll lines manually (thank God) to get scrolling to act civilized.

The default number of scroll lines that Firefox uses when using the mouse wheel is 6. You will most likely want to decrease this number to “slow” the scroll down, and you can do that by modifying two settings:

1. Open the address about:config in your address bar.

2. In the search field, type mousewheel.withnokey.sysnumlines

3. Double-click that to change it from false to true.

4. In the search field, type mousewheel.withnokey.numlines

5. The default value is 6. Double-click and change it to 1.

Open another tab, load up a web page where you have to scroll and try out your mouse wheel. You’ll notice the scrolling speed is a lot “slower” when set to 1. If it’s too slow, go back to the other tab and change the numlines value to 2, then back to the other tab and try scrolling again.

Eventually, you’ll find a happy medium that suits your preferred scrolling speed. It will be somewhere between 1 and 5.

Using a touchpad/trackpad (laptop)

When it comes to scrolling with smooth scrolling enabled, trackpads can be a nightmare to work with. Very few laptops out-of-the-box have a trackpad where the edge scroll speed is set to what most people would consider “normal”.

You have two ways of getting scrolling more civilized with a trackpad. Either you use the trackpad’s configuration software itself (which is hit-or-miss), or you use the same Firefox method above to slow down the scroll speed.

I’ll put it another way. If the trackpad scrolling “works great everywhere except in the browser”, then use the Firefox method. If on the other hand the scrolling is way too fast everywhere, then you should change the scroll speed setting via the trackpad’s software instead.

How to enable smooth scrolling in popular web browsers

In Firefox

Enabled by default. Can be disabled via Firefox Menu > Options > Advanced (tab) and unchecking “Use smooth scrolling”

In Google Chrome

This is a hidden setting. Load up the address about:flags, and you’ll see the Smooth Scrolling option there. Enable, and restart the browser.

Example:

In Internet Explorer 9:

Very buried, but available. Go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced (tab) > Use smooth scrolling (checkbox).

Example:

On a final note, Firefox is the only browser I know of that can have the scroll lines manually set as mentioned above. This may be possible to do in Chrome, but not without some sort of add-on/extension. And as far as IE9 is concerned, that browser obeys whatever the system settings are for scrolling and to the best of my knowledge cannot be modified in-browser directly.

The deal when it comes to a portable radio is that everyone should own one for the simple reason that when the power is out, radio is quite literally your only way of getting up-to-date news after about three hours. Your internet may still be working but it’s running totally on battery backup at that point, and if you have a laptop, you have anywhere from 2 to around 15 hours depending on how long it can hold a charge. But that doesn’t mean much when your UPS battery runs out of power. After that, you’ve got the phone (assuming the cell towers are still working) and then word-of-mouth…

…unless you have a radio. And the best kind of radio to have is one that receives AM, FM and WX. Why all three? AM/FM gives you local news and traffic updates, and WX gives you detailed weather reports, so you’ve got all your bases covered.

Fortunately, portable radios that have the good stuff are surprisingly cheap and readily available. Here are two of them:

Ambient Weather WR-090

For 20 bucks(!), you basically can’t go wrong with this one. From the comment reviews I’ve read about this product, ham radio guys even approve of this one (they know more about radios than anyone else), so you know it’s good.

There are several things that make the WR-090 fantastic. First is the fact it’s digitally tuned, and no, it’s not half-assed digital tuning as this thing has real DSP in it. All seven NOAA channels are pre-programmed with digital precision. Yes, the antenna is telescopic up to 8 inches. Yes, the reception is fantastic. Yes, this radio can in fact survive a drop easily and is built truly rugged and not “just-looks-rugged”. As for the flashlight, yeah it’s dinky, but hey, it’s nice that it has it.

And I know this may sound dumb, but I’m actually glad it has an actual clock that can display time in 12 or 24-hour. No, it’s not atomic time (which would be seriously awesome), but when looking for portable radios you’d be surprised how difficult it is to find one with a clock on it.

On a final note for this radio, no, it’s nowhere near as capable as, say, the Kaito KA1103 Worldband radio. When you want a “radio that receives everything”, the KA1103 delivers in fine style (and also has alarm, sleep timer, automatic battery charging, etc.) But for what the WR-090 offers, it’s like I said, for 20 bucks you cannot go wrong here. It’s powered by three AAA batteries, and while the speaker doesn’t really project that well because of the unit’s size, it’s an acceptable tradeoff.

Kaito SB-1059

This radio doesn’t require batteries to be inserted. It’s charged by solar panel or hand crank. Yes, really. This is a true “survivalist’s radio”. If you’re the kind of person who never has batteries when you need them the most, well, that’s not a concern here. Just put the box in the sun or use the hand crank to give the internal battery a charge, and you’re good to go.

There are a few drawbacks to the SB-1059. First is the fact there’s no digital tuning, and per reviews I’ve read, when changing stations, the wheel is a little over-sensitive. Also, this is the kind of radio you have to test once a month to make sure it’s still working.

The quality of build here is nowhere near that of the WR-090 mentioned above, but, it’s selling point is the fact it charges itself with the sun or the hand crank, and the fact it sells for so cheap.

Generally speaking, this radio does get good reviews for what it is. It’s not anything super-duper, but like the WR-090 it’s cheap, available and it works. And said honestly, having a radio that can be powered by a few turns of a hand crank is cool.

Some reviews say the solar panel is good enough to where the unit can be charged indoors under a bright desk lamp. If that’s true, the SB-1059 would also make for a good radio in the office, as it’s small/compact, and the green casing is a good theft deterrent against co-workers with sticky fingers (I guarantee nobody else in the office has a green radio).

Microsoft Office 2000 is, as far as I’m concerned, the best release of MSO ever to exist. Why? It’s lightning fast, has unbelievably good backward compatibility, and as you’ll see in the above video, it’s actually fun.