Bigwoofs Technology

Hard drive failures

I’ve seen an uptick in hard drive failures recently. It’s important to remember that the weakest link in a computer is often the hard drive. It’s the only constantly moving part (unless you have a solid state drive), and the most fragile.

Please do yourself a favor: spend some money on an external drive, and do regular backups, at least once a week. If you have a Mac running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later, it’s as simple as plugging in the drive and letting Time Machine do the backup automatically. The money and effort involved are a far better value than the alternatives should your drive or computer fail!

Kachemacs Mac User Group membership benefit

I’m offering a $20/hour discount on my services to paid members of the Kachemacs Mac User Group. We meet once a month in the Homer Public Library for 2 hours, and cover a range of interesting topics throughout the year. The membership fee is $30/year. Please see the membership page on the group’s site for more information or to sign up.

Due to the steep discount, some restrictions apply.

1. The discount only applies to home computers. Businesses wishing to gain a discount will need to contact the group for sponsorship options.
2. Only Macintosh computers are covered.
3. Appointments must be made at least a day in advance.

Event: Free Macintosh Support

There will be a free Macintosh support session at the Homer Public Library on the 21st of March. Sponsored by the Kachemacs Mac User Group, we will be in one of the small rooms on the north side of the building. Come with your questions and/or your laptops!

What: Free Mac Support
Where: The Homer Public Library
When: Saturday, March 21, from 10am to 2pm

Click on the event button to the left to download a calendar reminder!

Upcoming events sidebar added

I’ve put nice big calendar buttons over on the left sidebar, detailing upcoming events that I will be a part of. If you click on an event, your browser will download an .ics file to import into your calendaring program, and the meeting time and location information will be automatically added.

New Bigwoofs Technology site goes live!

Welcome to my new Tech site! I’m hoping this more dynamic version of my business site will generate more visibility, and give me a place to put my tech-related information. I’m hosting a few how-to posts over on my personal site, and this would be a more appropriate place for them in the future.

I want to use this techblog to host some product reviews, support advice, and other techie stuff. I may soon also branch out into podcasting, which will be new and exciting (for me).

I’m still tweaking the site to look exactly how I want, so please excuse any weirdness you may see.

Tutorials

What do you want to do with your computer? I offer instruction on many aspects of computing. I can provide one-on-one tutoring, or I can meet with several people at once and do classroom-style teaching. Some of the topics I can cover are:

Computers

• Computer Basics (Macintosh or Windows)
• Components of a Computer (what’s inside that box, and what each item does)
• Mac OS X Basics (Navigating the file system, saving, setting preferences, customizing, etc.)
• Mac OS X Intermediate
• Mac OS X Advanced (Command Line Interface, compiling open source software, etc.)

Photography

• Photography Basics (framing, aperture, shutter speed, focal lengths, etc.)
• Advanced Photography (digtal SLRs, RAW files, etc)
• Photo Editing Basics (iPhoto, etc.)
• Advanced Photo Editing (Aperture/Lightroom, Photoshop, etc.)

Audio/Video

• Videography Basics (Cameras, framing, audio, etc)
• Advanced Videography (Lighting, microphones, sequences, etc.)
• Video Editing Basics (iMovie/Movie Maker)
• Advanced Video Editing (Final Cut Express/Pro)
• Audio Recording Basics (Equipment, microphones, formats)
• Audio Editing Basics

Internet

• Safe Internet Skills
• ebay for fun and profit
• Social networking
• Online advertising

 
 
iMac photo credit: Apple, Inc.

Websites

A website is one of the best ways to attract attention, whether you are a business or an individual with something to say. Laptop computers, cell phones, and iPods, combined with the increasingly universal coverage of wireless signals, means near-constant access to the web for many people. It is the first place many use to look up information about a business or a person.

A website that is easy to access and update is as important as having a website, since outdated or incorrect information can be worse than no information at all. You can take charge of updating the site after it goes online, or opt to have me update it for a small fee.

I will build you a website that is both modern, and simple to maintain. I mainly use WordPress, an open source content management system that can be adapted to just about any purpose.

WordPress features a simple, yet powerful system for editing your site and adding images, movies, etc. with minimal hassle.

Web Services

• Website planning (what do you need your site to do?)
• Domain name selection and purchasing
• Finding reliable hosting services
• Photography
• Website design and creation
• Usability testing
• Update training

Photo/Slide/Negative Scanning

Do you have boxes of photographs and slides that have never made it into photo albums? Do you scrapbook, and want to use some of your pictures without damaging the originals?

I can scan your photos, negatives, and slides, and deliver printable digital versions of them back to you. I also have software that can remove spots and redeye, restore correct color to faded or discolored images, and remove dust and scratches from slides. See the examples below.

Spot Removal

Color Restoration

Dust/Scratch Removal

Audio/Video Conversions

Do you have stacks of home movies on VHS? Or audio cassettes you’d like to have on CD?

Video Services

• VHS to DVD or Digital File (No copyrighted films, please)
• DVD to VHS or Digital File (No copyrighted films, please)
• Digital Video File Formatting (for Web, DVD, Computer, etc)
• Capture Web Video

Audio Services

• Cassette to CD or Digital File
• LP to CD or Digital File

Windows Support

General Support

• New purchase recommendations
• New computer setup
• Troubleshooting and data rescue
• Upgrading (hardware and software)
• Virus/Spyware/Adware Prevention
• Automated backup configuration
• Wired or wireless network setup

Advanced Support

• Windows/Macintosh integration
• Virus/Spyware/Adware removal
• Firewall setup
• Safe Internet Skills