Al Lustie's Tips and Tricks

If you learned to type on a typewriter you probably don't much like the chiclet keyboards on laptops and on Apple products.  I know I can type on them, and I know it's an unsatisfying experience.  I have used a Matias keyboard with the iMac for several years now, and I recently purchased a smaller, WiFi keyboard from them for my MacBook Air.

That gets my typing up to speed, and my accuracy back where I want it.  Check out www.matias.ca and look over their various models of keyboards if you prefer a "full-throw" keyboard.

Leave a comment if you would and let us know your experience with keyboards.

Happy New Year!

In addition to getting your tax information gathered, making new file folders for 2015 receipts, going over your will and end of life documents, it's a good time to:

•   replace your smoke alarm and Carbon Monoxide detector batteries
•   do some maintenance on your computer.

Here are a few of my suggestions.

Clean your keyboard, screen and the outsides of your computers.  A bowl of diluted cleaner and a rag (lint free!) will work for everything but the screen.  Don't use glass cleaner.  Use a lint free cloth with cool water after the screen has cooled off.

If you have a desktop PC, you might want to unhook all the cables and take it to the back porch.  Open the side panel and do this:

•   blow a bit of air gently over the internal cavity while. . . 
•   pulling the dusty air into a vacuum cleaner that is NOT too close to the innards.  That dust is very flammable, usually, and needs to be cleaned out once a year or so.  

After everything is put back together and dry and hooked back up, there are other things to do.