Kevins Tips

Do you have an interest, a hobby, or are part of an organization? Well Yahoo offers a great way to communicate with people who share your interests called Yahoo Groups.

If you go to their main page, you can search for all kinds of groups, even some that may be as local as your own town.

Maybe you are head of a local organization and wish to keep your members up to date with the latest news or allow them to communicate to the entire group.

Yahoo Groups was a Yahoo buyout long ago from a website called eGroups. It’s a great tool whether you run some kind of organization, or belong to one. It allows the group to communicate via email, without everyone having to know everyone else’s email.

You can even setup up one just for your friends of family. It’s really ease to use, and you can get it setup in a few minutes.

Google has a similar service, but Yahoo seems to be clearly ahead of Google on this one.

There are several ways to configure a group. Of course one of the best parts is that it’s all FREE !!!

Website: Yahoo Groups

If you surf the web, it’s nearly impossible to keep predators from accessing your computer. Short of never connecting to the web, you will have to lock down your computer and secure as best you can. However even with some of the best lock down strategies, it’s inevidable that a virus will make it’s way through.

The two most common paid options are Norton Antivirus by Symantec and Mcafee Antivirus

There is also a very popular FREE Antivirus Software available if you don’t want to purchase the Symantec or Mcafee software.

FREE Antivirus Software - AVG

It seems kids are getting things we NEVER had when I was young. Kids as young as 8 or younger are carrying around cell phones. Heck when my Mom wanted me, she just opened the door at yelled for me to come in.

Well even Babys can get their own website, with a little help from Mom or Dad of course.

Check out Babysites

Features include

	Share Your Baby’s Journal
	Share Photos
	Share Growth Charts
	Share Video Clips
	Share Sound Clips
	Personalized Website

There are a few sites out there, but this is the best truly FREE one I’ve seen. You can of course get a Premium site for a few dollars as well. It’s very easy and fast to setup a website. Now all his/her relatives can keep up to date with their favorite baby.

It’s the MySpace/Facebook for Babies.

If you are in need of a basic Photo Editor for FREE, Google has a nice one called Picasa. This is for the average snap shot taker, who needs some software to fix up their photos as well as help organize them.

Previously I mentioned some FREE Online Photo Editors, which is fine for fixing up the occasional photo, but if you have a lot. Googles Picasa is an easy and simple to use editor for the casual snap shot photographer.

Website: Google Picasa

Looking for a quick way to fix or modify your Digital Photos, try these FREE Online Photo Editors…

• Photoshop Express
• Phixr
• Picnik

No software to download, it’s all done on the web. Not ideal for doing a lot of photo editing, but if you don’t want to download software, and you only have a couple of photos to tweak, these are ideal.

FREE 411 Calls

Here is something useful you may or may not have heard about.

Google has started (awhile now) offering FREE 411 calls.

Website: GOOG-411

Phone number - 1-800-466-4411 (aka 1-800-GOOG-411)

I’ve used it a number of times, and it works pretty well, but sometimes
you have to repeat yourself.

The only downside is that it is only for business listings. The good
side is there is no advertising, and an average call lasts about 30
seconds. It can also connect you. If you are calling from a mobile
device, GOOG-411 can even send you a text message with more details and
a map. Simply say “Text message” or “Map it.”**

Another one came out not long ago, that is good for both business and
residential listings.

Website: FREE411

Phone Number - 1-800-373-3411 (aka 1-800-FREE411)

The advantage is that it does allow you to do a residential lookup, the
downside is you will hear advertising. One ad when you connect and one
ad before it gives you the phone number. A call takes an average of 2
minutes. It doesn’t connect you, like Google does, it gives you the
phone number. I have found that the voice recognition is superior to
Googles. If you call back within a short time period, it also
recognizes your phone number and asks if you want the last number you
called about.

Note: Whatever charges you normally incur on your phone for making 800
calls (like cell phone minutes), still apply for either service. It
beats the $1.00 or $2.00 fee for a 411 call you normally pay,
especially if you use 411 a lot. I prefer the 1-800-GOOG 411 in
general, but if you need a residential number you’ll have to use the
1-800-FREE-411 number.

If you live in (or near) Boston, Key West, San Diego, Savannah, St. Augustine or Washington DC, you can get a FREE Trolley Tour.

Historic Tours of America offers a FREE residence pass to residents of the area, when they bring along a paying guest. This company includes Old Town Trolley, Seal Tours, DC Ducks (aka Duck Tours), Key West Railroad, Little White House, Key West Shipwreck Historeum Museum, Ghosts & Gravestones, Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum, and more.

A great deal for those of us that live in or near a touristy area, but don’t want to pay for tours every time someone new comes to visit.

Website: HomeTownPass

Getting Strange Phone Calls?

• Are you getting a strange call?
• Don’t recognize the phone number?
• Does the caller ask for personal information?

Checkout the phone number on Caller Complaints

Make $500 Every Time a Telemarketer Calls You –The Simple Secret

Here is a handy little tool.

See just how fast your internet connection REALLY is….

It’s a good thing to check once in awhile. Make sure you are getting the internet speeds that your Internet Service Provider (ISP) tell you that you are getting.

If the speed is not within that range, you probably want to give them a call, seeing as how they are charging your for it!

Note: I’ve added this icon at the top right of KevinsTips.com, so you can check it anytime you like and you don’t have to go hunting for this post.

Internet speed fluctuates constantly, so when if you run it 5 times in a row, you will get 5 different speeds. However, they all should be close to or better then the speed you are paying for.

How to run the test!
Click on the large Speed Test Icon or the one at the top right of this page. When you get to the Speed test, click one of the servers under “Choose a Server”. Generally you want to pick the one nearest to you.

The Speed Test will give you two numbers, one that shows you your “Download Speed” and one that shows you your “Upload Speed”. Your download speed will be MUCH faster then your upload speed. This is common, since 98% of your internet connection will be downloading.

Downloading
Remember that anytime you visit a website, watch a video, listen to music, etc. you are pulling or downloading that information.

Uploading
You upload when you are doing things like adding photos to your online gallery.

If you’ve noticed, it’s always much much faster to download a photo, then to upload it.

Many have heard about it, many here probably use it, but there are still many of you who don’t know what it is, or are not using it.

What is Firefox?
Firefox is a GREAT Web Browser.

What’s a Web Browser?
Simply put, it’s software that let’s you Browse the Web.

If you are viewing this webpage, your probably using a web browser. Most people are using Internet Explorer also called “IE”. Most people use Internet Explorer because it came with your computer, it was there, and it works. Nothing really wrong with using it, but I’d like you to explore your options by trying Firefox.

Why use Firefox?
Because it’s what all the COOL kids are using!!!

Firefox has been known and used among the geeks (and more computer savy folks) for a long time now. It is more flexible, faster, and more secure then IE. Features you are using in IE now, were already in Firefox several versions ago.

One of the biggest distinctions Firefox has over IE is that outsiders can develop cool things for it. It is also highly customizable and flexible. There is also a highly dedicated team of developers who are constantly figuring out ways to make it better, and it has the support of all those geeks that love to make cool and useful features for you.

I’ll be posting more about Firefox in the near future, so stay tuned.

Click on the graphic below and download Firefox now - Oh and it’s 100% FREE!!!

Note: You can use both IE and Firefox and the same time, one will not interfere with the other.