My Chromecast Experience, a Tech review of it!

Suggest Retail Price 35$

Disclaimer: All Links on this post are affiliate links, I believe in this product and fully recommend it to my friends and family.   If you have a problem with these links please do not click on the links!

Chromecast is Amazing!

I got my Google Chromecast from RadioShack, but you can also buy the Chromecast from Best Buy, and Amazon.com (Affiliate Link).  Which is where you could possibly get it cheaper than I did.  I paid the full 35$ for mine because they had it there ready for anyone to buy. You will need a Television W/ HDMI Inputs (Affiliate Link) to be able to use this device and I must say it works really well once you have it configured.  

Some Specs for you:

• Supports Netflix, YouTube, HBO GO, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and Google Play Movies and Music mobile apps as well as select content through Chrome browser, works with recommended modem
• Box includes Chromecast, HDMI extender, USB power cable, and power adapter
• Easy setup: Plug into any HDTV and connect to your home WiFi network
• Works with Android, iOS, Chrome for Mac, and Chrome for Windows
• Stream online video, music to your TV using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop; Available for Windows computers running Windows 7 or higher

Portability is Excellent!

I was able to move the Chromecast from one room to another and not have to worry about setting up the device again.   You can stream movies that you buy from Google Play to the Chromecast and be able to watch it on the big screen.   From even my small cell phone,  I can stream movies to the Chrome cast with ease.  I have been using my Acer 200 10.1 Tablet to stream to the Television.  You can however use any device that has the Chromecast app on it like the IOS and even Chrome.   I could even use my Chromebook to stream whatever I want to the Television.  As long as you have the Chromecast extension and have it setup properly, I see no major problems.

Setting up the Chromecast

The process of setting up the Chromecast on your devices were simple and quite pleasure.   The only hitch that I came in was the downloading of the updates to Chromecast.   That took the most time.   It took me around 10 mins because of my connection to the internet.   If you have a faster connection it could be faster or slower depending on your internet speed.   You can name your chromecast anything you want and yo really do not need an internet conenction to stream to the device.   If your like me downloading movies and then watching them when you get home, this is an excellent option for those who want to watch movies on the big screen.   For 35.00$ (29.99 Right Now) (Amazon Affiliate Link), It was a bargain for me.   You really do not need an internet connection do watch movies you purchase on Google Play store and or Music.   You just need to have the App and the Chromecast device.   I found I made the best purchase possible, for the money!   You really should try it yourself.  

Google shoots my site in the foot! (Unnatural outbound links)

I got this email Thursday!

It wasn’t the best news that I could of wanted from Google.   After all, I was getting some great traffic from searches.   Although, admittedly I am not really to worried about page rank.   It isn’t like I was making a ton of money from people coming to my site but it is the principle of thing that really bothers me and makes me really un happy.  I would of like Google to email me saying we think you have unnatural links and suggest which links were unnatural instead of just dropping my page rank.   some sites just do not know some of this, I am working long hours at work and this comes my way.   It’s like Google likes to shoot all sites in the foot just because they can.

Granted, Sites like to Make Money!

It would be silly of my to say that I didn’t like the adsense revenue that started to happen last month.   I pretty much doubled my adsense in a months time and I am quite sure it was all by my doing alone.  I know which posts Google had a problem with and I’ve pretty much dealt with them.  It was my Gust Posts from other people and organizations.   I found out that Google thought I was getting paid for these guest post.   In truthfulness these were really from BlueFirePR, which isn’t necessarily anything bad but I guess Google Doesn’t want them to control SEO rankings.  So I am instituting a new guest post policy.    Anyone wanting to submit any guest posts, must now be using the NOFOLLOW policy, and maybe a Dofollow policy for anything that I think is a good site but I have the final say so.   I have already went and put all those links that I think were not tech related as nofollow and I have also submitted a request to remove the block and asked that they give back my rankings.   I do not know if I will be at the same level as before, or if it will go down and never recover but I am willing to work with Google on this.

Guide Lines for Other Webmaster!

I thought it best to talk about some of the things most webmaster will want to implement as soon as they hit that little snag in the road.  It isn’t everyday you get an email like this from Google.  I have submitted a manual request but it could take several weeks before I find out the results of what they will do!  Until then here are some suggestions for future guest posts that you might do on your own site:

• Guest Posting — If your looking for quality guest posts, join something like Guest Crew (Affiliate Link).  I’ve been on their for some time and I have been publishing posts to other sites with little effort and been making my site more popular!
• Only have one Dofollow link — If you looking publish an article that isn’t in your niche you may as well make all links nofollow just so you do not make Google suspicious!   It is up to you how you publish or post your content.
• Niche Guest Posting — If you are going to post, it is suggested that you keep the post in your niche and that way Google will not get to suspicious.   This is where Guest Crew (Affiliate Link) can help.   It can find posts that are in your niche and you have the final say so!

I was going to do a how to on finding these culprit links but there are plenty out there that do the job for me and I didn’t have to look far or long to find the problems on my site since I have been doing this for so long, I know Google doesn’t act slowly, so I knew it had to be really recent that was the red flag for them.   If you think it is something really old, then you will need to do a lot of searching but I knew it wasn’t so for me.

I’ve played a version of this game before and I know my site is older than it looks but I also know what to do when I get hit by these problems.   Stop think, re-examine the problem and you will always come out on top!  

Has it happened to you, how about leaving a comment telling me what you did?

How to restore and backup your Timesheet date on the Android OS!

Timesheet Pro: $2.50Backing it up!

I talked about 3 Different Timesheets but I still recommend TimeSheet Pro from Google Play store.  I’ve had nothing but success but I have had one or two problems along the way with this app.  I wanted to discuss this and possibly help people keep their important time information from being lost.   

Before we begin though there are a few things you need to make sure you have a way to backup your times.  You will need to register for a Dropbox account (Again, I get no money for the link other than the possiblity to get 16gb of space on dropbox).  I have yet to figure out how to use it with Google Drive but I am hoping the maker of the app has it planned in the comming weeks! :) It would be so much easier for me since I already have enough space on my Google Drive to keep it safe!

How to Back it up!

Right Now you will need to have your Dropbox account registered and download the Dropbox app.   You will then need to Authorize Dropbox.  You can get to that by going into your settings menu.   The easiest way I can do it by using the Menu button and then select More and then Settings.   Once their you should then go to the Backup menu and that is menu should look like the picture.   

If you want to have two different backup locations such as the cloud and and external SDcard.   You will need to enter the SDcard location.  It can be several ways like:

/storage/external_SD/(folder)

/mnt/sdcard/_ExternalSD/(folder)

/mnt/sdcard/external_sd/(folder)

/mnt/sdcard/(folder)

These are just a few but if you need help figuring out the name of the location of your SD Card, you can use something like Astro File Manager!  I use this all the time when start using a new phone or tablet.

Now since you have setup both your dropbox and ou sd locations.  You will need to test it out if this is your first time, if not you will just have to go to next step.  

Restoring your Information!

Now since you have setup the dropbox.   You will now need to restore the information that you have lost.   If you did not do this in the first place your data probably wasn’t backup and this will be useless but if you did this in the beginning to prevent that then please continue!

You will need to find the location that you have the newest backup of your data, either the external sd card or Dropbox.  You can use Astro File manager to know which dmp file was created the lastest.   Once you’ve found it, you will need to make a copy of the file.  This way if something while restoring you can still have a copy.   

The dmp file should start of with:

(year)(month)(date)_numbers_numbers.dmp

Even I do not know what the numbers mean but you can find the date that is needed to back up and copy to either the cloud or copy from the cloud.   Once you have made a backup of that file.   You will then need to rename the file to “automatic.dmp” and copy it to the location on the sdcard that you’ve told the program were to backup to.  I found this to be the easiest way.  You can however just use the file that is created but I like to keep it from being deleted or used.  

If you have setup the paths the right way and copy the files to the right directory you will see something like this when you click restore on your phone or tablet.   Each time you need to restore, you should follow these directions that way it makes it so much easier and simplier.  If you decided to use the automatic.dmp file, you will have a selection to select the automatic file.   Either way, once your restored your back to where you have left off.  

If I have helped you with this app please consider sharing it and also use my Amazon link whenever you want to buy something from Amazon.  This helps me keep doing the things I love.  A small commission is given to me everytime you use this link to buy products or services from Amazon and you pay nothing more for using it!

The Chromebook experience and the White Screen of Death!

White Screen of Death!

From: [ Version 32.0.1700.95 (Platform version: 4920.71.0)]

The latest update : [ Version 32.0.1700.103 (Platform version: 4920.82.0)]

Had a really strange effect on my system.   Whenever I started booting up the system right after the update, I would just go into a cycle of white screens or I would see the default background for a few minutes and then it would just turn all white!  It got so annoying, I started calling Acer Laptops about it and requesting a Chrome OS Ninja for help on this issue.   They said  I would have to send in my laptop and wait 7 to 10 business days for it to be resolved.   I didn’t have that time or luxury to not be without a laptop so I went back on my resolve to figure this little issue out.   The only thing I could come up with is to go download a new version of Chrome OS for my Acer Laptop by using Windows Recovery Option.   Strange Google should have a way for me to download an ISO of the latest version without having to having to do these steps.

Recovery Options

By Pressing Esc+Refresh then hold down the Power button.  I was able to bring up the “Chrome OS is missing or damaged” message and then after I made a new usb card for my device it booted without a problem.   I do not know what actually happened but it was quite frustrating and Google needs to start providing more ways to recover the system without having to go through so many hoops.   

Has anyone else had this type of problem?  I’d like to know!

4 Free alternatives to Microsoft Publisher!

The Alternatives are out there!

I was inspired by a friend of mine who asked on Facebook, She wanted something that was freeware or shareware preferably because she didn’t have the money to go by Microsoft Office 2013.  So I thought tis was high time, I tried to help some of my readers out by showing you what you could use that is just as good as Microsoft Office!

Open Office (Free Productivy and Open sourced Suite)

Open Office has been used by me in the past and you can even use it on the go with little to no major problems.   All you will need is program call Portable Apps and a USB drive preferrably 8 to 16 gb of space because of all the programs you will need to install it!

Google Docs

The Next one that is really useful is Google Docs which comes with any Google account.  I personally have used this and in fact, I created the image at the top of the page!   The pacman eating Microsoft Docs! So it can be quite useful for doing what you might need.   I have much success with the using this with my Chrome OS computer, you really can’t use much else but something that is online anyways!

Scribus (Open sourced desktop publishing)

I have never used this but I was told by a few friends that it is really good and works just like most other publishing tools.   You can try this one and see if it helps!

PagePlus Starter Edition

Another one that I have yet to use because I have had no major need to use more than the first two.   This however has been brought to my attention from several friends on my facebook page and can’t but at least mentioned it!   

 As you can see you have several you can pick from and from time to time there will always be new ones but these were a few that  I found thanks to crowsourcing the problem.   I do hope this helps you also in making an informed decision on what you will use for your project(s).  Know of one that I missed please feel free to leave a comment and tell people about it!

3 Goals for Google Play: More TV Categories, Better UI, and a Stricter App Policies!

Google Play needs improvement!

Lately, I've been thinking how Google play could be even better place.   I know I'm not the only one to think this and I've already talked about Google Play: TV and Movies but I thought it about it.   I've pretty much decided that I should tell you some other areas where Google needs to improve upon.   After all, if Google wants to win people over they will need to start out competing every one else.

Better User Interfaces!

I'm not saying that the UI has been disappointing but I will say that it needs much more work.   You can't really expect to bring people to your side without some fixing of the UI.   I have tried to see where Google was coming in the past but it seems that everytime I try to figure that out, I get stuck and can't go any farther.

Navigation!

It not asking to much I don't think to be able to navigate through the Google Play store without having to keep going back to the beginning.   It would be nice to have more Swipe side to side to move between areas or places in the Google Play store!

I can do the swiping from side to side on certain areas of the Google Play store but it seems so unusual to do because you wouldn't expect to do it in those areas so you have to look for clues.

More TV Categories!

I've suggested this to Google in the past and yet they still don't want to implement this one.   It seems kinda strange not to want to add more TV Categories to there Video section but that just might be something that they are unwilling to do just yet.   They have it done that with the Movie section but not the TV Section of their Google Play Store!  I am only hoping they fix this and make it more user friendly and make it easier to find Shows that you may want to watch.   I'd love to see a Science Fiction Category but that isn't something that is available just yet!

Stricter App Policies!

This one is the biggest and hardest to understand.  Lately the apps are getting rediculous and harder to find that are actually free.   Some Apps have in the past been consider malware, while others are claiming to be free but yet you really only get a DEMO of the APP.  Even one Reddit user has started keeping track of some of these Apps.  

Even the Apps have been know to use push notification on Advertising, which seems kinda like a way for them to make money at our expense.   I hate those types where they just constantly send ads to your notification when your driving or doing something that your can't be bothered with.   I had one game that would do that constantly and I removed it.   So when I say this shouldn't be allowed, you see where Google needs to improve upon.

We know sex sells but let's keep it out of the Google Play Apps and other places like that.   This should be a clean store and not having all the porn and stuff easily accessible to kids and teenagers.  If Google wants to make money this would be my first place to look to change.   Most people will go other places to buy their apps just to avoid all the problems you have with the Google Play store.

Paul Sylvester

Google Play Movies & TV : What needs to fixed!

Google Play and You!

It hasn't been long since I've moved from Amazon to Google Play, but there seems to be something that needs to fixed.   I'm going to talk about some of the things that Google needs to do and possibly help you out in the same process!  I won't say that I regret the process but there are a few things that could be changed and also fixed.   I'm really am hoping that someone reads this and implements these changes in Google and thus making for a better user experience for everyone.   

Show's don't show up automatically!

When I buy a season on Google Play for shows, it doesn't show up.  I have to clear the cache for the Acer a200 to be able to download the newest episode(s).  

1. Visit Menu > Settings > Apps

2. Tab over to "All"

3. Select the Play Store app, and then tap "Clear cache" and "Clear data"

Please note that after clearing the Google Play Store app data, if you have set a PIN code and/or a content filter, you'll need to re-apply these settings

[Google Play]

This seems to be a lot of trouble everytime you have a new episode that comes out.  I waited a full 24 hours before contacting them about the next episode, so I know that if the app is going to check for new updates it should of done so in the 24 hour period.  It didn't, and I had to do those steps to download the next episode to my tablet.   

It would be nice if Google play would clear the cache every 8 hours or so or when you load it up.   This is a failure on the part of Google to think about customers needs.   

Internal Memory and External Memory!

Something else that seems to be a problem is the ability to use the External SD card to put all my movies or shows on.   I bought a Sandisk Ultra 32 Gb Micro SD card [Affiliate Link] for that one reason, to be able to use it to keep my shows on when I download them.  Google doesn't use this card and keeps all my movies and shows on the internal memory card because it think it is the external Memory card.   It sees it as the sdcard and not anything else.   The External Memory is consider is considered External SD on the tablet and thus nothing will be put on it.  

It would be nice to use the tablet the way I want and not the way they want me to use it.   I have been looking for ways to fix this and if I find one, my readers will be the first to know but I am hoping Google reads this post and fixes these two major problems that I've seen so far.   

Do you know of something that needs to be fixed with Google Play and you want my help, you can always Contact me and tell me what the problem and maybe I will talk about it on my website.

Paul Sylvester

My Amazon Affiliate Link!

Goodbye Amazon! Hello Sweet Google Play! More Reasons why I am leaving Amazon!

Amazon is losing the battle!

Let’s face it, when I bought my Acer Iconia Tablet [Affiliate Link] A200, I really thought I was going to not have a lot of shows that I can watch or stream on my tablet.    Lately Thought things have been changing, for the good.  After last year with watching Doctor Who on Amazon, I thought I was going to be stuck with Amazon because there was no way to download my episodes without the Amazon unbox program for my laptop.   I started watching Doctor Who Season 7 [Affiliate Link] on Amazon,  but that is about to change.

Science Fiction is Coming to Google!

As many of my readers knows, I simply love Science Fiction.   I do say that whole heartedly, nothing can be said about anything else.   Lately I’ve been on a kick to have other shows on Google Play or even movies.  I want to share with you some of the shows that I’d like to see added to Google Play:

• Star Trek — From original to Enterprise, I’d love to see all those episodes available to streamed and downloaded onto my Tablet.  Hopefully that is in a process now!
• Babylon 5 — Although there isn’t a link for that series, I’d love to see that come to Google Play Store really soon!
• Kyle XY — Although you can get Seasons 1 and 2, you can’t get season 3 just yet.  I’d love to see the who series on Google Play!
• Doctor Who [Season 7 Only] —  Thank you Google Play, This has been wanted for over a few weeks.   They recently released it to the Google Play store a few days ago.  I just can’t wait for them to bring in Season 1 thru 6.   
• Star Trek : Renegade — They are doing kick starter project for a new series that basiclly is a 5 year arch.  I’d love to see this come to my Android tablet so I can take this anywhere and watch it.  It is a interesting concept and it will be fascinating to see the series when it comes out!

Although these are just a few, I will be looking for more to come to the Google Play store.   Although there categories for TV is limited, I’d like to see more menus added so I don’t have to search as much. All I know, is recently I went to my Amazon pre-passes and stopped all those from continuing.  I have switched all my passes to Google Play store.   So I have one thing to say to Amazon “It was nice knowing you but I get my movies and TV from Google Play Store now, since you don’t support Android Devices”.   

If you would like to see a show or Movie come to Google play, you can always request it.   Just fill out this Form and they will know what shows or movies you’d like to see come to the Google Play Store.  I can’t wait to see what other shows or movies can be viewed on my Acer A200 Tablet!

Paul Sylvester

Amazon Affiliate Link!

Preventing the Unthinkable!

Imagine yourself having been using Gmail and you go on lunch.  When you get back you try to log into your Gmail account, and it is locked?  Yesterday Chris Brogan His friend and colleague came back after lunch and his Gmail account was locked out.  So I want to talk about some ways to prevent the Unthinkable!

Yes, you too, could be locked out of your Gmail account and have no way to access your web services like friendfeed or other services like that. Unless you have your passwords stored someplace either in Firefox or IE.  That is so unsafe, letting Firefox or IE remember you passwords, check out one of my previous post about that!!  If you are locked out of your Gmail account and you don't remember the password.  What next?  Here is what I do.

I use Roboform and back that up nightly to an Amazon E3 Server.  I also make copies to a local spare Hard drive. Roboform comes with the best Syncing software and also a very powerful password generator. It encrypts your passwords until you enter your master password.

I was reading Todd Cochranes Article about this. I wanted to make a point on having your password safe and secure and easily accessible!! Todd Cohcrane is right about having a backup plan. I have always said in the past, backing up is very important.  Having a local application do your mission critical stuff is important.  So check out his article and check out Roboform.

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Google Adds IMAP to Gmail, World Rejoices

f you are a Gmail user, head over to your account settings and select "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" to enable the newly added IMAP access option. If you don't know what the Internet Message Access Protocol is, this system allows you to access mail directly on the Google servers instead of downloading it to your computer. That way, if you access mail from multiple devices, your inbox and mail folders will look the same from every one of them. Gmail's IMAP setup page includes tutorials for Outlook, Apple Mail, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, and, you guessed it, the iPhone. [Thanks John and everyone who sent this]

I'll have to start using this. I bet everyone else is going to too!!

Our Google Phone Wishlist

Although rumors of a possible Google Phone have been making the rounds really hard lately, any such phone will have to be amazing to grab enough end-user and media attention. Expectations are high, but since we're dreaming, here's our wishlist:
Tight integration with Google Apps:
• Picasa: A 2MP camera with decent color and low light performance should take a shot, and upload it directly to your Picasa web storage as a mirror. Likewise for YouTube uploads.
• Google Talk: Both IM and VoIP makes this a fancy web communicator. The carriers may not like this, but we've got a feeling Google will sell this sans carrier. Oh, and other IM client support.
• Google Video and YouTube: To at least match the iPhone, they have to have their video sites ready for mobile usage. Uploading
• Google Earth: Google Earth for 3D maps, with GPS and app integration.
• Google Docs support with full read like the ones for iPhones, Windows Mobiles and BlackBerries, but real with full editing right on the phone, and support for multiuser editing.
• Google reader for RSS.

I didn't quote all the article because it's a big article. I like what they said. I like the picture myself.