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Castle Point Court
Glen Allen, VA 23060

8045025506

Garth Callaghan

Napkin Notes Dad

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The Napkin Notes Blog

Don't Be the "Bad Dad"

WGarth Callaghan

It's safe to assume that I am the tech support guy in my house.  I am responsible for each device that has a remote, a circuit board, or a processor.  Somehow, I am even responsible for our uptime with Verizon FIOS and if our Wii Remotes have run out of batteries!  I accept this, since I am the resident geek.  What I can't accept is being the "Bad Dad."  


The "Bad Dad" is the guy who is responsible for the family pictures and their safekeeping and doesn't back them up.  The "Bad Dad" is the guy who has to look his wife in the eye and tell her that the Disneyland pictures are lost because of a power surge.  The "Bad Dad" accidentally spilled coffee on the laptop at breakfast and lost his daughter's iTunes music.  The "Bad Dad" can't find the video of his grandchild's first bike ride.  You get the idea.  


Our memories are becoming more and more digitized with photos, music and video.  They are typically stored on your computer.  It's important to back them up.  We could show study after study of how often hard drives fail, but they don't mean anything to the person who has just lost their vacation photos.  


A good backup plan is inexpensive.  It's safe, secure, and reliable.  It works automatically, so that you don't have to manually intervene.  A good backup doesn't care how much data you store in it, becuase it knows that tomorrow you'll have more.  


I use Mozy.  It costs about $55/year.  It's encrypted.  It backs up my files at least twice a day.  It's unlimited for the home user.    It helps me avoid being a "Bad Dad." 


 


Why don't you try it today?  Click Here to start the service.  


 


If you have any questions, you can contact me directly.  I really believe in backing up and the Mozy service.  It's too late to start after your hard drive has crashed.  


 


P.S. If you are really into statistics and why you should back up, Google has a nice batch of data that might interest you.  Click Here to read it.  


 

Why I Quit FourSquare

WGarth Callaghan

I am happy to announce that the following venues have their Mayorship up for grabs:


1) Echo Lake Elementary School


2) Glen Allen RF&P Park


3) Brookley Road Field


4) Little Venice Restaurant


5) MGM Law


6) OfficeMax - Staples Mill


7) St. Michael Catholic Church


8) The Blockhouse - BLDG 1109 on Ft Lee


9) US Post Office - Mountain Rd


10) 127TECH


I was pretty excited to start using FourSquare.  I have only been an active user for a few months.  I cancelled my account yesterday and won't go back. 


Privacy Issues


Oddly enough, I didn't have any issue with privacy.  I understood that the service would not only broadcast my location, but it might even tell the interwebs what I was doing there!. I was perfectly ok with anyone knowing where I was and what I was doing.  It was a blast and I had quite a few conversations about what was in stock at Costco. 


Frankly, anyone using FourSquare should have a reasonable expectation that their smartphone can easily track their location via the cellular signal, GPS and WiFi.  FourSquare doesn't do anything more than these other tracking methods.


Competition


I was very frustrated with the level of competition that this service fostered.  Once I became a Mayor of a location, I really needed to defend that title.  I needed to visit my venues frequently to ensure that the Mayorship wasn't stolen away from me.  I didn't need to visit the Post Office on a daily basis, but I wanted to make up reasons to get there just to check in.  I even paid attention to my driving route so that I could do a drive-by check in!


Mostly I was frustrated with myself when I found that I had left a venue and realized that I hadn’t taken the time to check in.  That in itself made me realize that I was being utterly ridiculous and obsessive about a game that didn’t really matter. 


Usability


The major issue that I have with FourSquare is that the service doesn't automatically check in for me.  I know that there are multi-tasking and privacy issues that could have serious implications for many users.  I can hear the arguments now, "I don't want FourSquare to automatically check-in for me.  What if my boss/wife/etc. sees my middle of the morning trip to Starbucks?"


Although arguments like these are valid, the programmers at FourSquare could easily put in controls that would only allow automatic check ins between certain hours or specific venues or not at all!


Why would I even want automated check ins? We're all busy.  We're running around a lot, and when we're running around we're using our smart phones to make calls, read email, play games, check stocks, etc.  Checking in with FourSquare adds one more thing to our already overloaded task list. I'm tired of leaving a venue and realizing that I didn't check in.  Even my daughter acts as a reminder to me as we leave church.  "Don't forget to check in, Dad!". I usually smile and think to myself that God must find this incredibly amusing since I just spent the better part of a Sunday morning checking in with Him. 


Best of luck to all of the Mayors out there.  Enjoy your Badges and defending your Mayorships. 


I'll see you in FourSquare 3.0.  




Two Tech Tips & Two Bonuses - from @wgarth

WGarth Callaghan

Delete Facebook Friends

WGarth Callaghan

With all of the concern about Facebook privacy, you should also know how to remove a "Friend" should the need arise:

1) Login to Facebook
2) Click Account>Edit Friends (Upper Right part of page)
3) Click All Connections (Left part of page)
4) Click the "X" next to the person's name that you want to remove.

Facebook does not send a notice to this person that you have removed them from your Friend's List!

Twitter highlights from last week of April (@wgarth)

WGarth Callaghan


  • Do you work in a small business? Soho OS is offering up 1000 free memberships to TechCrunch readers for biz mgmt services   April 29, 2010 at 9:05AM

  • St. Michael's Financial Peace University Class has one spot left. Normal is broke! Be Weird!!     Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 6:21AM 

  • Stealing from Modern Family...The 3G iPad comes out on my birthday eve. It’s like Steve Jobs & God got together to say, ‘We love you, Garth"   Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 7:00PM

  • HP buys PALM. Didn't see that coming! Let's hope that the handsets remain innovative!    Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 5:10PM

  • Wondering how to manage your finances? Sign up for Financial Peace & learn how to budget, get out of debt & build wealth!    Monday, April 26, 2010 at 3:32PM

Some April recaps from twitter - @wgarth

WGarth Callaghan

March Twitter recap

WGarth Callaghan


  • 127TECH Tip: Do you want the ability to send email at any future date and time you choose? Try LetterMeLater    Monday, March 29, 2010 at 10:36AM

  • Are you a geek and thinking about being mischievous this week? http://ow.ly/i/T2u    Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 2:55PM

  • Interested in better money mgmt? St. Mike's has a Financial Peace University Class starting 5/3! Click & search Zip 23060    March 19, 2010 at 4:32PM