Do you know Him?
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The Good-O-Meter
Quality German Engineering
It’s been over a year now, and I finally got around to fixing the headlights on my ’99 Volkswagen Passat. Several years ago, someone smashed into me and their insurance fixed my car. Unbeknownst to me and the adjuster, was that the alignment screws that kept the headlights pointing out onto the roadway were damaged. Several years later, they both finally gave way and my headlights pointed at the ground, just in front of the bumper. This caused the headlights to vibrate and new ones would burn out in about a week.
Replacement screws could not be ordered and I would have to pay $300 dollars a piece for a new right and left headlight assembly. Bummer. I didn’t want to spend the money, and frankly, I didn’t have that kind of money for lights in the night. For longer than I care to think about, I’ve gotten by with using just the fog light option, that uses the highbeams in a dimmed mode. Honestly, the light of the moon was almost as bright as what I could see at night. I had to stick to highways and roads with lighting, while country roads were almost un-drivable. I finally broke down and ordered replacement headlights from an online dealer, and good news: they were hundreds cheaper than buying the parts from a dealer or body shop!
I highly recommend Auto Parts Warehouse. Free UPS shipping on orders over $50 dollars, and great prices. As an example, the Passat’s radio antenna had broken off years ago, too. I had been without a radio for long enough, and so I also ordered a new antenna. I decided I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night had I just stolen one from another VW! Auto Parts Warehouse wanted $43. The local VW dealer wanted $165 bucks for the same dinky antenna! If you need auto parts, check them out.
Anyway, I was very impressed with the German engineering of my car’s headlights. It’s just the small things, but when you work on a car, the small things make a big difference. The Passat has lots of nice “small things” that only the Germans would think of. It’s an old, paid off car, but I do love the small touches that make it German.
I went out today to check out what would need to be done to take out the old headlight assemblies, and put the new ones in. The first thing I noticed was how dingy and yellow my old headlights were, compared to the clear, bright new ones. Here, the old one is on the left and the new one is on the right. These new ones were going to be brighter, if for any reason, just because the plastic was clear! I popped the hood and found two mounting screws, hidden under protective caps. I removed them, and unplugged the single clip of wires that connected to the back of the assembly. I jiggled and nothing gave way. I then looked at the new unit and saw that there was one more mounting screw in the bottom corner: no way would I be able to get to that on the old unit. Then, (thank you Germany and Jesus) I just happened to jiggle the turn signal light, mounted next to the headlight. It popped out and revealed the last mounting screw to remove. No obstacles and no headache of reaching around in cramped quarters to remove some obscure screw. I replaced both headlight units in less than twenty minutes.
That is a testament to how the car was built and designed. I must say, I’m a little proud of that car. I heard today that my brother in law’s Honda Civic caused him major headaches, just to change the headlight bulb — not even the assembly. He couldn’t get to the back of the unit to take the bulb out. He finally took it to the dealer, and they had to remove the wheel well, just to take the back panel off to change the stinking light bulb! Unbelievable, and honestly, unacceptable. That made my twenty minute job feel pretty good.
We love our new Hyundai Sonata, but I love the Passat too.
For more, visit TobyLaura.com!
Ohio BMV
Right now, Laura and I are waiting as patiently as possible in the painfully slow lines of the Ohio BMV. Fortunately, I found a free WiFi network to get online while we wait!
As infuriating as it is, waiting in the lines at the BMV is a good reminder of how slow, and sometimes, inept, our government is. As we wait in line, we get to hear all the questions the BMV staff have to ask the people getting a new license or renewing something: “Are you permanent resident? Is your license under suspension or revocation? How long have you lived at your address?” And on and on and on. There is so much paperwork, so much red tape, so much bureaucracy, it is amazing that anything gets done in that place. I honestly don’t know how people can work there, in such tedious monotony.
In this BMV, there is sign, after posted sign, about how we, the paying customers, must do this and mustn’t do that. “No cell phones!” “Take a number.” “Sign in Here.” “Sit over there.” Strangely absent from all the signs is the one that should read: “We only accept cash or check.” From reading other blog posts, you’ll know that I’m a credit card guy. I find it typical that there is a sign for everything unimportant, but for something that actually matters, like the fact that cash is all they take, that isn’t up anywhere. I’d love to go in and have a bunch of services done and then want to pay with a credit card. When they say we don’t accept it, I’d politely say that they need to undo everything they just did. I know I’m evil . . .
The conclusion I came to after yet another BMV experience, and I’ve had many, as I’m sure you have too, is that I don’t trust the government to run things. In a red tape loving, bureaucracy creating, provider of the slowest service in the world, how can anyone want the federal government running our national healthcare? Just look at the lines in the BMV to understand what the government could do to the paperwork and lines in the hospital and doctor’s offices. Or just look at how long the Canadians wait to see a specialist. Competition breeds quality service and because the government’s BMV competes with no one, they couldn’t care less how fast they work. Another example is the TSA running security at the airports. They don’t compete and are slower than molasses. They are rude, slow, and incompetent.
I’ll pay someone to stand in line for me the next time I need something done at the BMV. Any takers?
For more, visit TobyLaura.com!
Getting into Google Apps
Google Apps is the definition of personalization for your domain providing efficiency, collaboration, and distinctiveness. As always with Google, it is a free service that can be added on to a domain, or if you own your own business or non profit, where you have larger needs, they have a pay-for-service, that offers even more.
If you haven’t read my posts about IMAP and Personal Domains, you may want to read up on them if you haven’t heard of those terms. Click here to sign up to add Google Apps to your own website.
I continue to be amazed at what Google is willing to freely provide, and they even do it in the background, where visitors to your website will never know Google is working behind your web pages. Talk about humility! I could take a lesson from Google on their willingness to take a back seat while consistently providing a great service without any credit. An example: because I’ve enabled Google Apps for TobyLaura.com, Laura and I have personalized e-mail addresses at: tobylaura.com. Google is providing the great e-mail, but their name is never seen in our addresses.
With Google Apps enabled, you get, for free:
100 Google e-mail addresses @yourdomain.com. Each has 6 gig of inbox space. That’s 600 gig of inbox at your disposal!
You can build a free website with 100 megabytes of space. That’s not too much, but hey, it’s free. For comparison, TobyLaura.com is a little more than 500 megabytes. TobyCline.com is made with Google Apps free web page as an example.
A calendar that you can keep private, share with specific individuals, or share publicly on your web page.
A Sites tool, where you and coworkers can work on documents or projects collaboratively.
A Documents page, where you can create Office documents, like Word files, Excel files, spreadsheets, and the like. You can save these to the internet where others can read and see them, or edit them, or they can be downloaded to your computer. Don’t want to spend $400 dollars on Microsoft Office? Employ Google Apps!
Google Chat — through Gmail and through it’s own program. Chat with anyone in the world, for free.
And finally, a start page, where you get a personalized place to start your web surfing experience (make it your home page). It has a place to see if you have e-mail, news articles you’ve selected to see, weather anywhere in the world, and much more that would just bore you talking about it here.
When you own your own domain, you can set up these applications’ address as: docs.yourdomain.com or calendar.yourdomain.com as an example. That way, when I want to check our e-mail, I just type in mail.tobylaura.com and it brings me to our personalized e-mail. It’s so simple and easy.
I also have my old gmail.com address that most everyone I know has for me. I set up all incoming mail to that address to be automatically forwarded to my new address at tobylaura.com This future proofs my e-mail accounts. If I ever want a different address, I can always use Google e-mail to forward to my future, new address.
Even if you don’t plan on using all the features, they are great to have for potential future use. If you own your own domain, sign up for free: it’s a no brainer, and a winner.
If you are new to the web (like me), it may take a little reading in the help pages that Google provides, if you stumble into trouble, or you can e-mail me. Google’s help pages are very good, though. Another reason to sign up for your personal web address through GoDaddy.com is because they are huge and popular. Because of this, Google often provides instructions on how to set up your domain information with specific GoDaddy instructions.
Get Gmail because it is the best e-mail out there.
Get your own domain name before someone takes it.
Enable Google Apps to your domain and you’ll be off and running! If it shows up, click the add below to help support this blog.
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Get your personalized domain name
Do you own a domain name? Do you know what one is? You ought to think about registering a personalized domain name today, even if you don’t want to build a web page around it right now. Why? Because unique names are being taken all the time. Get yours before the one you want is gone.
A domain name system, or DNS, is a unique address on the web. Internet website addresses are really numbers, like 62.27.168.170. But no one can remember those, so there is a unique name that goes with it: TobyLaura.com, or GreenExamPrep.com, or JerrySuzie.com. (The numbers hide behind the name).
To get a personalized web address, it must be registered with ICANN. They are the “boss” of DNS naming. To register a personalized domain name, you visit one of many registration websites, like GoDaddy or NetworkSolutions, and they take care of the rest. I have used GoDaddy for mine, and think they have the best set up and control functions, once you get serious about a web page. Personal domain names are $10 dollars a year — a paltry amount for what you get with those ten bucks. So even if you only want personalized e-mail, like Laura and I have, or you want to get your internet domain name registered so that in five years, you can put up a photo album page or blog, it won’t cost much at all. Skip two Starbuck’s and you’ve paid for your web page for a year.
When I bought my Mac computer, it came with a free program called iWeb that I use to put this website together with ease and the click of a few buttons. You don’t need iWeb or some fancy program to have a website. Enter my favorite internet friend: Google. JerrySuzie.com is my parents’ blog and even though they have a personalized web address, the actual pages are hosted by Google Blogger — of course, for free. They only pay ten bucks a year for the personal DNS.
Once you have your domain name registered, there is one other step involved in having a web page: You need a host. A host is simply the computer that stores your web pages so that when someone types in the address: TobyLaura.com, it sends their computer the information on our website to their computer. A domain name with no host means there is nothing behind that name. In the same way, a lot of hosted pages with no name means there is no way to get to those pages. Apple hosts our web site through Me.com for a small fee (this service ends June 30th, 2012). Google hosts my parent’s website for free, but they are limited in what they can do (you get what you pay for here).
I registered both TobyLaura.com and TobyCline.com. I don’t use TobyCline.com much as it is somewhat of a guinea pig for working with different website functions. Right now, you can click on TobyCline.com and see what Google will do for free as a host. I spent a few minutes throwing that page together so that some friends of mine could download some files about my interview at Cathay Pacific. Google gives you 100 megabytes of online storage to upload files, pictures, text, music, or anything, really. Or, I could point TobyCline.com to a Google blog like my parents have done. Once you own a domain name, the possibilities are endless. I own e-mail at the tobycline.com domain as well — it is a Gmail e-mail account that Google provides — of course, for free. I can do that because I own that domain.
Anyone can have a free Google page (like what I made at TobyCline.com) or free Google blog, and there are plenty of other free places to set up web pages, like Yahoo! to name one other. But, it sure looks snazzy when you add personalized e-mail and web addresses. If you want to start up a business or a side venture, personal domains are a must to set yourself apart and allow the public to take you seriously.
You never know what the future brings, and in this internet age, where the world is getting larger, but coming closer together, the web’s role in our daily lives will only get more and more important. So stop by GoDaddy.com today and in five minutes, you can have StaceyJonesRocks.com, SECbeatsOSU.com or my personal favorite: HottieBrands.com!
For more, visit TobyLaura.com!
It’s time to IMAP
I don’t need any more convincing that Google rocks! Do you? Everyone, and I mean, everyone should have a Gmail account. It’s more than a free e-mail service, it’s an internet experience. Google is so large and makes so much money, they have the resources to make great web products/experiences and do it all for free. The winner is us, the consumer.
Are you still piddling around with Hotmail? How about Yahoo! or even a local ISP (internet service provider) with a local e-mail account like @comcast.net? The days of the internet revolution are in full swing and the only way to truly enjoy the surfing process to its full extent is to jump up to the best game in town: Google. 
Yes, Google is on top and let this cartoon depicting the potential Microsoft buyout of Yahoo! say the rest. See AOL in the left corner . . . ?
Google is best known for their search engine. Next, they are mostly known for their free e-mail service. But they do a lot more than that. More about the other features in another blog. For now, it’s e-mail.
Gmail (sign up for a free account here) is, in my opinion, the best e-mail client out there. The spam protection is better than anything else on the web that is free. I’m not sure about all the technical details, but in the two plus years I’ve used Gmail, I can count on one hand the number of spam messages that have made it into my inbox. Google learns with every click of the “this is spam” button. But, better yet, when I empty my spam folder, Google updates the spammer’s address and domain with every single Gmail user, not just me, so Gmail users block spam as a team.
Because the spam blocking is so good, you can feel free to download your e-mail into mail programs like Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook on your computer. I remember when I had a Yahoo! address, I never wanted to download my inbox into Microsoft Outlook because I would get all this spam, and I couldn’t block it once it appeared in Outlook. I would login to Yahoo! Mail and block the ten or twenty spam messages in my inbox and then download my messages. That was a pain, because why check e-mail on a web page and then look at it again on your computer in Outlook or Apple Mail? Many smaller companies use Gmail for their own e-mail system because the spam blocking is so strong. They have their own e-mail accounts, like [email protected], with the Gmail address hidden behind it, allowing Google to do the spam blocking in the background.
Mine works the same way. Laura and I use our names in front of tobylaura.com, but that is because Google is working behind the scenes, for free, and providing us with great spam protection. Free.
Gmail will also give you a huge inbox: 6 gigabytes for each account, and growing! That’s enough to store e-mail for years and years. Google takes the approach that you shouldn’t have to throw any e-mail away. That way, years later, you can search through your messages with the power of a Google search, and find small details you were searching for. I caught a retailer in a lie by simply going back and searching what they had told me. I forwarded their e-mail to them and they admitted their mistake!
Now the best part: IMAP. You can read more about it here. IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. IMAP is a setting your set in your mail account. It’s like POP, but better. POP stands for Post Office Protocol and is the familiar system that allows an internet e-mail account like Yahoo! to send the e-mail to your computer in Microsoft Outlook. Anytime you can check your e-mail on your own computer in an e-mail program like Apple Mail or Outlook, you are using POP. POP is nice, but it is old school. Sometimes, retro is cool. In this case, you want to move up to IMAP. IMAP is a “live” connection between your mail program and your e-mail account on the internet. You enable this function in your settings. Then, if you delete an e-mail in Outlook, it deletes it off of the account online in Gmail. If you send a message from your Apple Mail, it shows up as a sent message in your Gmail account. If you check your e-mail from multiple locations, like a PDA or phone, or multiple computers (laptop and desktop) they are all kept up-to-date, instantly. With POP, you’d have to delete a new message on each computer you use, but with IMAP, all is synced and streamlined. In the end, it is efficiency and convenience in Gmail e-mail, for free.
Google offers so many services, all free, and they all work to make your internet, a better internet. I have my own personal e-mail account, for free, because of Google. You can too! Own a business? Want a professional or unique look? Do you want the tools you use on the internet to sync, communicate, and collaborate together seamlessly? Want your blog, web page, e-mail, online calendar, and more all work together? Get Google!
For more, visit TobyLaura.com!