Pensacola Computer Help Technoblog

Finally, Google has added a long awaited feature to its Gmail service – the ability to add images and rich text to email signatures! The next time you sign in to your Gmail account, click on the Settings link in the top upper right corner, and on the General tab about halfway down the page you will see the new Signature box with some new features. In addition to the regular bold, underline, italics etc, you can also change your font, change the font size, color and highlight color. YOu can add hyperlinks, and yes you can finally add images!!

While you can’t just upload an image directly (they must be hosted on the web somewhere) – you can easily just upload your image to a free image hosting service such as http://imageshack.us/ or http://tinypic.com/ and then copy the image address into the Image Url into the Gmail signature Add an Image dialog box. Once you have put in the image url, if it is correct, you will see an image preview. The dialog box also allows you to resize the image. **Note: you really should properly size the image before uploading it to the web, as an image that is too big will take a long time to load into an email message. Remember to click Save Changes at the bottom of the pages when you are done customizing your signature!

Email services like Gmail are constanly adding new features and this is one that people have been wishing about for a long time. The signature feature is a great feature, and if you have multiple Gmail accounts you can customize the signatures for each individual account. Unfortunately, the rich text signatures are only currently supported in the desktop browser version of Gmail and not supported on mobile versions. For the desktop version, you must be using the latest non-html version of Gmail.

So Steve Jobs went to demonstrate the wonderful new features of the new iPhone yesterday, but funny thing, it wouldn’t work because everyone was clogging up the local wifi. This is a bad thing because of two major points: first, many of the new touted cool features, like the ability to place video calls, only work on wifi networks, and secondly, why have a ‘phone’ that isn’t reliable enough to use on the phone carriers network?

Sure, the new screen is very nice and crisp, and there are definitely some cool features. But come on Steve – you demonstrate the new Netflix app which streams movies to your new iPhone on the same day that ATT, the ONLY carrier for the iPhone, changes it’s data plans and eliminates the one good thing it had going – unlimited data. Well, ATT isn’t stupid, and they know that while a lot of people don’t use that much bandwidth every month, that with the new apps, and new features coming out, more and more people are going to need more data, which with their new data plans means more $$$ for them.

It also seems that Apple, while forging ahead and trying to promote their slick new features, is missing out on some of the features that people really want – like the ability to actually view all the web pages on the web on their phones (sorry Apple fans, you will NEVER have the ability to do that on an iPhone). On the other side, Google’s Android is embracing the ENTIRE web and with the latest Android update, you can now view Flash websites on your Android powered devices. Lets not forget that Apple’s app store, while filled with an amazing number of apps, is still policed by Steve Jobs app controllers who decide what you can and can’t run on HIS hardware, not to mention the fact that 30% of the money that you spend on those apps goes right into Apple’s pockets.

So, should you buy a new iPhone? Well, if you don’t use a lot of data, then it might be worth it …. but wait, if you don’t use a lot of data, then that means that you really aren’t using the potential of the phone, so hmmm. Do you constantly use your phone where there is wifi? … oh wait, if there is wifi, then you can use a ‘REAL’ computer. Do you only need to see just a few pages of the web? well in that case, the iPhone is definitely for you …. oh wait, you live in Pensacola where 3G drops in and out on a whim, so again, maybe not for you.

Don’t get me wrong by my vitriolic commentary, the iPhone is a wonder of technology and is shaping the way people communicate. It definitely has some very cool features and is at the forefront of techology. It’s just that it’s shortcomings are becoming more and more apparent, as is the fact that Apple and Steve really don’t give a damn about much other than their bottom line, and what they determine the future will be. – Lets see, what did Steve do yesterday? He unveiled his latest profit maker. What did Bill do yesterday? He donated 1.5 billion dollars for women’s and childrens health. So who really is more interested in ‘helping’ the world change?

Pensacola Computers Presents Windows 7 Quick Tips: Installing hidden international themes in Windows 7

In this episode we show you how to install some hidden international themes that ship with Windows 7, but are not installed by default. These themes are easy to install and include full theme sets for Australia, Great Britian, Cananda, and South Africa.

For best viewing experience, view in HD full screen mode

For more information about Windows 7, and the best in Pensacola Computer Service and Repair, visit our homepage here at pensacolacomputers.com