clickfree

My laptop has been making a grinding sound for a few months now...and we're not sure why. It's just every couple of days, often in the middle of the night and sounds like something very, very terrible is happening inside of my beloved computer.

So I asked Rory about backup solutions. A few months ago we backed everything up on an external hard drive, but Rory did it all, and it required some back-end stuff that I didn't really understand. He has lots of his own stuff on there too, so for me to go back and find any of my own files on it later seems daunting. Then I asked him about mozy.com, an online storage system, but he is leery of sharing all of our information with a third party.

Here's my deal: I'm a smart girl, pretty quick to pick up on things and all in all, up-to-date in the world of technology. So the fact that I find backing up my own computer so very overwhelming REALLY bothers me. It's a process I want to be able to do on my own...not dependent on Rory, or anyone else for that matter.

Rory came home the next day with an orange box from Best Buy, and I liked it from the start. The box was clean and uncomplicated. I took out the directions and squealed with glee. There were only five steps, and one of them was making sure your computer was turned on. No lie. That was step number one. Step two was to plug Click free into your computer. Step three was to wait 60 seconds. Step four was to watch all of your files copy to your Clickfree. Step five was to wait for the "Download complete" screen and then to disconnect your Clickfree.It felt like magic. I felt empowered. Rory loved my excitement for a backup drive.

My Clickfree is the C2 Portable Backup Drive and was $80 at Best Buy, available online here as well, and if I were a girl who gave $80 gifts, I'd start giving Clickfree to all of my friends and family for Christmas and Birthdays.

I wish I were being paid for this endorsement, but I'm not. But actually, the payment is in my pure relief that I have everything backed up. I just think when solution is THIS SIMPLE for something like backing up ALL of my pictures, personal writing and digital scrapbooking, then it is my human duty to shout it from the rooftops.

So hear me now: CLICKFREE! CLICKFREE! CLICKFREE!

humble pie.

Ahhh!!! I am laughing/frustrated screaming right now. Because that sweet tutorial I put together?!! That one that teaches you how to use a Reader? Well, I was wrong on part of my recording and now the whole vimeo world knows it...and will know it FOREVER!

So. Turns out, if you have gmail, you can just click on the Follow button on the side panel and just by clicking and adding your face to that list, the blog will appear in your google reader. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!! Why did I make an entire tutorial to explain this?!!! A girl might just want to make sure she knows what in the world (wide web) she is talking about before she goes and makes any more tutorials. Until then, I'll stick to stories and scrapbooks.

The rest of the tutorial is still accurate...and I still stand behind a Reader. Just know that you can subscribe and you can follow, and to be so honest, I don't have a clue what the difference is between the two. (seems like subscribing is more private and following is public?!!) But I'm done pretending to be the expert!

Please forgive me!

R.eally S.uper S.imple

How to use an RSS reader from Becca Groves on Vimeo.

I made a video for this Monday Morning! I think you can probably see that I've been at work on the layout of my blog. I'm hoping it's a bit easier to navagate. Basically, it was just time for some spring cleaning, and since I am all about organization it actually was very happy work. I organized my posts and will continue to do so for easier categorized reading...

Anyway, this video I am posting is all about keeping the blogs you read organized. I have had a few people ask me how they can find out if I've posted something new and an RSS reader is the best way. Don't be scared...it's pretty basic stuff and if you already use one, you know what I mean. But for those of you who don't use one, consider this video tutorial my personal gift to you as you begin your own spring cleaning, sorting your blogs, organizing your daily readings...

Happy Monday everybody!

computer tips and tricks

Are you ready for another Computer Shortcut? Because I think you're going to like this one. You know why? Because Rory LOVES this one. He was so excited to share it with me.

You know when you are trying to cut and paste from a website into a word document and all of the formatting is messed up, tables end up screwing up your spacing and the font, size and margins is just a mess? Yes?!! This annoys you too?!! (see, I knew you'd be excited about this one!)

Here's what you do: highlight and copy as usual. And then when you go to paste into your word document you hit control ALT and the letter v (usually you would hit just control 'v', but the key to this trick is hitting ALT at the same time). A little box will pop up and you politely tell Microsoft Word, "Unformatted Text" by clicking on that option. And then you take a deep breath because you don't have to spend the next eight minutes trying to get the selected text to match your document.

Genius!

tips and tricks with rory groves.

I had high hopes of writing a traditional 'things I'm thankful for' post. But truly, it all boils down to my husband, cat and family, good health, my God who keeps teaching me, my imagination, a love for creating, my stunning drive to work each day, a job that keeps me engaged and interested, friends who know me well, food in my fridge, a roof over my head, a church I love...

Actually, now that I started writing that list it's pretty hard to boil down. But I'll leave it at that and may have to add more later.

What I wanted to share with you today is a bit of computer help from my husband. Rory's life has centered around computers. He wrote his first code when he was like 8, making his own games and stuff. His mom once gave me a chalkboard with a wooden bear on the front and I thought it was an interesting gift to pass on until she showed me the back of the chalkboard. Rory had written code on the back for a game he was working on, and the handwriting was clearly that of a younger kid. She had saved it because it was so very Rory.

Marrying a man who is not afraid of computers was a really good move on my part. I once had trouble finding a 12 page paper I was working on for seminary. I was sure it was gone forever and told him so in a mess of sobs and tears, announcing, "I am going to go and lay in the fetal position on our bed while you find my paper." And sure enough, he found the paper, and I was so grateful that I had married a computer genius.

So there have been little tips and tricks that Rory has mentioned lately that when he tells me I say, "does everyone know that?!!" And after discussing with my sister, maybe some other people know these tricks, but Annika and I didn't, so I think it's worth passing along.

I hope these Tips and Tricks become like a series of posts and that together we all become a bit more computer savvy.

RG Tip #1: When typing in a web address, you don't need to type www or .com Simply by typing in the heart of the address, like, amazon and hitting CONTROL and ENTER, the www and .com will magically appear.

RG Tip #2: Every time you go to order something online, or go to join a group that makes you enter in ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION for the umpeeth time you have to enter your state, typically by using a drop down menu. Sometimes these can be hard to maneuver depending on what state you live in. But not with Rory's tip #2. Once you get to the drop down, don't mess with your mouse, just hit the first letter of the state you live in until it comes up. Example: If you live in Minnesota, you just hit the letter 'M' five times. If you live in Nebraska, you hit the 'N' one time.

How handy are those tips?!! THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW!!!