Digital Copies of DVDs You Buy - Are They Worth It?

Do you buy a lot of movies on DVD or Blu Ray?  Do you ever buy the bundle that also includes a "digital copy"?

I've bought a few of these in the recent past and I've finally started to load them to my iTunes account.  A couple things are worth noting:

• If you buy the bundle with a "digital copy", you are paying extra for it, so USE IT!  If you won't use it, buy the bundle without that option, since it will be cheaper.
• If you use iTunes, it's pretty easy to get these digital copies loaded.  Some of them require you to insert the DVD into your PC to get the digital copy, and some use a website.  Either way, iTunes can handle it.  
• Don't throw away the paper with your code on it!! Without the code, you can't redeem your digital copy and you've wasted your money.
• Pay attention to any expiration dates on your redemption code - sometimes they have a limited time frame on them.  Miss that deadline, and you've again wasted your money.
• There is a difference between a digital copy and the new "ultraviolet" copy.  You have to create an account with UltraViolet or Flixster in order to redeem any movies that use it.  I haven't tried this yet but it's supposed to give you access to your movie when you're anywhere (assuming you either have Wifi access or a data plan on the device).

Of course a bunch of movies will use up a lot of your PC's hard drive, so hopefully you have an external drive that you can use to back them up if needed.  Also, you most likely won't want to keep all of them on your device (iPad, iPod, etc.) all of them time, since they'll fill the memory on your device as well.  Keeping them in iTunes gives you the ability to sync them onto your device when needed (such as before a long car trip or plane ride).

Personally, I'll be watching Hunger Games on a flight to Orlando next week...

Email Accounts - Legislation Needs to Change

Were you aware that if a family member dies, you will not be allowed to get into their email account unless you happen to know the password?  According to Yahoo, the law states that the email account belongs only to the registered user and they can't give access to anyone else, even with a copy of a death certificate.

This law does not make sense to me.  If a close family member uses email a lot, and then dies without telling anyone their password, their family is left in a bad situation.  There could be legitimate email waiting in their account that the family can't address, nor can they contact those senders to advise them of the recipient's passing.

It is my opinion that if the family can produce a copy of  a death certificate, then they should be given a chance to reset the password and clean out the account for themselves.  Most email providers will close the account when notified of a death, but without some type of cleanup and/or notification to any legitimate senders, there is a big gap here.  The family could lose valuable information and/or relationships without access.

For now, please remember to share your email password (and any other important information) with someone that you trust to carry out your wishes if you die.  Otherwise your family could be left with no recourse but to close your account, even if it means losing all of its contents.  Make this part of your estate planning and your family will be better prepared to deal with closing your "online life".

Using iPad as an E-Reader & Video Player

At Christmas I became the proud owner of a new iPad.  I'm really enjoying it and use it for a lot of different purposes.  My top two are for reading and for watching movies/videos.

I wasn't sure that I would like using an e-reader instead of a paper book, but I've come to appreciate the advantages.  I don't have to store paper books, which is a huge plus for me, since my bookcases are overflowing.  I can take my iPad anywhere that I'd take a book and it's no heavier than a hard cover book.  I can mark my page with an electronic bookmark instead of scrounging in the bottom of my purse for a receipt or some scrap of paper to use.  I can shop for new books anytime, and I can search by author, title, etc. in the store to quickly find what I want.

One disadvantage that I see with e-readers is that it isn't any cheaper to buy an e-book than a paper one.  I mean, really, shouldn't I get a discount since they don't have the expense of the paper, ink and printing?  Why should I pay $9.99 online to get an electronic copy of a book when I can often get the same book on paper for less than that?  This is annoying to me.

For now, I'm trying to stock up on iTunes gift cards whenever I see them offered at a discount off face value (frequently at 10 - 15 % off at local stores).  I'm also having pretty good luck with the bargain section of iBooks.  I've found a lot of new authors that I'm enjoying without having to pay $10 or more for a new book.

We are members of Netflix, so I'm also really enjoying being able to watch all of the episodes of TV shows, in order, whenever I want.  If a certain show or movie is not available using the streaming on Netflix, I can normally find it on iTunes for a price.  I also have quite a few movies on DVD which I purchased in a bundle that included a digital copy, so I'm slowly getting those loaded to my PC so that I can put them on my iPad if I want.  This is perfect for kids movies for a long car trip or plane ride.

Now if I could just find an adapter to plug my iPad into the DVD player in the car, that would be the best of both worlds...

Keep Folders & Files in Sync

If you have multiple PCs in your household, there may be some files that you'd like to be able to view/update on both machines.  In order to keep your files in sync, there are many tools available.

I personally use a couple of different tools.  I use SyncToy from Microsoft to keep my files synced between a flash drive and my hard drive.  It's free and easy to use, very similar to Windows Explorer.  You choose the "from" location and the "to" location and it compares the files and updates what is needed.  It has several different options if you want to copy files only one way, both ways, including deletes or not.

I use DropBox to share files with clients or with family members.  I've also found that DropBox is an easy way to get my photos off of my iPhone or iPad and copy them onto my PC without having to email each file to myself.  It is also easy to use and offers some space for free.  If you invite others to join a shared folder with you, or perform certain other functions, you can earn additional free space.

Here is an article from PC World on this topic which has some other suggestions.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2031021/how-to-sync-files-and-folders-across-two-pcs.html#tk.nl_pwr

For more information on SyncToy and DropBox, see these links:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155 (SyncToy)

https://www.dropbox.com/

Excel - Using Referential Cells

Type in values on one worksheet and use them on another worksheet without retyping them.  This is what referential cells do for you in Microsoft Excel.  It's almost like having a database within a spreadsheet.



This tutorial uses a fictional silent auction as the basis for the spreadsheet.

Start by setting up a "Master" worksheet where you'll do data entry.  Columns should be: item #, item description, value, donated by, cost, winning bid amount, winner name.

Enter data in a few rows.

Now create a new worksheet called "Results" with these columns: item #, item description, bid amount, winner name.

In the first row of data, click on column A cell (A2) and hit the = (equal sign) key.  Then click on the "Master" worksheet and select the A2 cell on it.  This will now link the two cells, so any value typed into cell A2 on the "Master" worksheet will also display on the "Results" worksheet.  You can now highlight A2 and do a copy paste across the rest of the cells in the row (ctrl+c = copy, ctrl+v = paste).  Excel will automatically increment the cell letter/number to match the appropriate cells for the rest of the row.

Can you now see the data from row 2 on your "Master" worksheet displayed on row 2 of your "Results" worksheet?  If not, view the contents of each cell and fix if needed.  For example, cell A2 should have a value that looks like:
='Master'!A2

You can also use this feature to create a bidding sheet for each item which can be printed and placed by the item.  Follow the same process - set up your desired field labels, then click in each cell in the first row of data, type the = key and then select the cell to reference on the Master worksheet.  The easiest way to create multiple bid sheets is to create one with all of the formatting and fields set up first, then link to the cells on the Master, then copy the worksheet.  You will have to go to each worksheet to update the referential cells to the appropriate row of data (1st sheet is row 2, 2nd sheet is row 3, etc.) in the Master.

If you'd like to see an example in excel, please see this link:
http://www.tepatosystems.com/Articles/SAMPLE_silent_auction_items.xls

Payments Processing for Low Volume - PayPal Buttons

If your small business or non-profit group wants to be able to sell products/services online, but you'll have a very low volume, a full blown e-commerce solution may be too much.  A full e-commerce site can be complex, expensive to maintain, and requires special skills of your webmaster or service provider.

Tepato has several non-profit clients who sell event tickets to one or two events a year on their websites.  The total ticket sales for each event are a few hundred, with about 10 - 25% of the ticket sales being done online.  Since they have such a low volume (both in sales and in frequency), they use PayPal buttons to satisfy their needs.

Most people who shop online are familiar with PayPal and its usefulness in paying for your online purchases.  It also has a merchant function which allows you to create buttons for use on a website.  The buttons can be for a variety of functions, including "donate", "buy it now" or "add to cart" functionality, and can be customized with your specific item names and pricing.  After creating the buttons, your webmaster can copy/paste the code needed to place the buttons right into your website.

PayPal will provide all of the security, data collection and processing on their website, so your organization's website has very minimal impact.  You don't have to pay for security certificates or complicated sales processing pages to be created.  PayPal will process all payments for a fee, similar to any credit card processor.  You can withdraw funds from your account to another bank account electronically at any time.

PayPal allows buyers to submit an instant payment using a bank account or credit cards, whichever they prefer.  Your buyers don't even have to create a PayPal account if they don't wish to do so.

Two small conditions apply when using PayPal:

1. If you are a non-profit group, you may need to provide proof to PayPal (such as a copy of your 501c3 form) to use some of its functions.
2. If your company or non-profit sells anything gun-related, PayPal will not allow it.  You can sell any other items that are not guns or gun-related but they have a restriction on weapons (including raffles which have guns as prizes).

If your company or non-profit organization has a need to do payment processing on a small scale, I recommend PayPal buttons for their ease of use and competitive processing rates.

DropBox - Free File Sharing

Recently one of my clients suggested that we begin using DropBox when he needed to send me large files for his website.  I checked it out and it is a very nice free service.

DropBox starts out new users with a minimum amount of space (2 GB).  If you do certain things, such as set up shared folders or inviting other users to join, you will be given additional free space.  You can earn up to 16 GB of additional space this way.  You can also upgrade to a paid subscription at a monthly cost.

It is very easy to set up and use, and works similarly to Windows Explorer.  In fact, once you have DropBox installed on your PC, you can see your DropBox folder in Windows Explorer just like all of your other hard drives or other storage locations.  It also will give you an icon on your Quick Launch bar to either open your drop box folder or go to their website.

Other useful features:

• Automatically copy all of the photos off of your mobile devices such as an iPhone 
• Create a link to any file or folder in your DropBox, so that you can share that link with anyone who needs it
• Create a shared folder for use by a specific person or people

See this link for more information:
https://www.dropbox.com/


If you are a Tepato Systems client and would like to begin using DropBox to send us your data files, please contact us at crt@tepatosystems.com.