     
Contest Trip Winner comes to my Show!Another Kim Komando winner visited my studios this past weekend! Cindi Kiner won two FREE tickets on Southwest Airlines to travel from Knightstown, IN, to Phoenix to watch my show LIVE. While here, she and her husband, Larry, stayed at the beautiful Embassy Suites-Biltmore.
Here's what Cindi wrote on her Facebook page this week: A little about me, Kim KomandoI host two national radio shows. My Digital Minute airs Monday through Friday. I also host a three-hour show on the weekends. My shows are broadcast on more than 460 radio stations throughout the great United States and also in 177 different countries and on every ship at sea on the Armed Forces Radio Network. Plus, I write two columns a week for USA Today.com and 82 daily newspapers on Gannett Newswire.
This weekend's Money Making & Saving Tip:Save money on printer ink and paperOne of the biggest costs associated with computer use is printing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great ways to save money on ink and paper. This weekend's Apps for your phone:Apps to keep up with politicsAs the presidential election season heats up, there is an increasing deluge of news and information. These apps will help you wade through the flood. This weekend's CUFF that's always cool and free:Try Windows 8 today!Windows 8 won't officially launch for a while yet, but you can try it out today. Find out how to download and install the new Consumer Preview version. Updates to find me in your hometown!
Listen or watch when you want, on your schedule!Exclusive access for Kim's Club Members only!Being a Kim's Club member brings you a wealth of benefits! Listen and watch my show when you want, live as it happens or on-demand to fit your schedule. Get answers to your toughest questions on my Message Board. Browse through 80 percent more of my tips, Cool Sites and columns! All that and much more, for less than $5 per month. FORWARD ME TO YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS:Know someone who can use this information? Forward this newsletter now. Or pass along the link at Komando.com to your family members and friends on your Facebook or Twitter account. This helps them and me. I'm always looking for more folks to enlighten in this digital age.
It should adapt quality settings automatically to your connection, but I recommend choosing the default setting yourself. You can do this in your Netflix account settings under Watching Instantly>>Manage Video Quality. With the lowest setting, Good, Netflix uses roughly 0.3GB of data an hour. So, you can watch 8 two-hour movies or 16 one-hour TV shows. By contrast, at the Best setting, you'll be able to watch only 2 movies or 5 TV shows. You can see that the quality makes quite a difference. What about YouTube? At the 360 resolution setting, a one-minute video generally approaches 5MB. So, you could watch 1,000 one-minute videos a month, or 33 a day. As with Netflix, you'll want to set your default YouTube video quality to 360 in your account settings. This will keep it from jumping automatically to higher resolutions and using more data. Remember, all the above figures are for an entire month and don't take into account other Internet use. Expect them to be optimistic. Your kids will need to watch their data usage closely, and you'll need to supervise. For more data estimates, check out Verizon's data calculator. Cellular is convenient in many situations, but you can run up a huge bill if you aren't careful. These suggestions will help you keep your use in check.
Beyond that, you'll need a tablet or a computer-based reader program. With the rise of digital textbooks, the annotation tools for those systems are continuing to improve. For tablets, you can add stylus input economically with a touch stylus from my store. If you’ve never shopped there, my store is a collection of great digital solutions, tested and approved by me, to be the best products to simplify and enhance your digital life. If you want to stick with your Kindle, the free Kindle mobile app and computer program both have more robust annotation tools than the Kindle e-reader. You can then share those annotations with the e-reader. E-books have taken over the publishing industry thanks to numerous strengths over print books. Learn more about those strengths.
Keep the glare off your TVRoger from Houston, TX, listens to my national radio show on KPRC 950 AM. He dropped a bundle on new home theater equipment and turned one of his rooms into a theater room. Unfortunately, he didn't think about the room's windows. During the day, the room receives lots of sunlight and at night there are bright street lamps outside. This causes serious glare on his TV. He wants to know how I would recommend fixing this problem. Well, Roger, you could try turning your house so the home theater room windows face a different direction! It might be easier, however, to just cover up the windows. I know that's a common-sense answer, but sometimes the simple answer is the best. Of course, that doesn't mean I don't have a recommendation for finding the perfect window coverings. You'll want to pay a visit to my advertiser Blinds.com. You'll find some awesome features that make picking the right window covering easy and even fun. It will work for you, Roger, and just about anyone who wants less glare on their flat-screen TV. The first cool feature is the Blind-Finder. It identifies why you need window coverings and shows you what models will work best for your situation. In your case, Roger, be sure to choose No Light under How Much Light, or just jump straight to the room-darkening products. Another helpful feature from Blinds.com is The Windows Shopper app. It shows how blinds and other window coverings will look in your room. Picking correct colors and ordering samples is a breeze. Then there's Blinds.com's SureFit Guarantee. Even if you measure your windows incorrectly, Blinds.com will replace the incorrectly sized blinds for free with the correct size. This is very important for you, Roger, since a poor fit can allow unwanted light to leak into the room. If you aren't comfortable installing window coverings yourself, Blinds.com helps you find a professional in your area. So, what are you waiting for? Pay Blinds.com a visit! There's more exciting news! Starting later this week, I'm kicking off a new contest sponsored by Blinds.com. You could win a $1,000 gift certificate for a home window-covering makeover. Stay tuned for details!Calibrate your Mac's screenChris of Grand Junction, CO, listens to my national radio show on KEXO 1230 AM. His 5 year old was using the family iMac and somehow messed up the display's settings. The colors are all off and he wants to know how to fix it. Because their jobs depend on it, graphics professionals invest in sophisticated calibration gadgets and spend a significant amount of time color-managing their Mac displays. Fortunately, average Mac users have an easier, and less expensive, option. Go to System Preferences>>Display>>Color. You'll see a color profile that will return your display to its default settings. Just select that profile and you're done. You could call it a day after doing that, but the default profile might not be exactly what you want. That's where the Display Calibrator Assistant comes in. Click the Calibrate tab and select Expert Mode. Don't let the name intimidate you, it just adds a few extra steps. Follow the instructions to calibrate your monitor. Don't worry about making a mistake. You can always go back a step or start over. Once you're done, give your new color profile a name and click OK. I recommend using the Display Calibrator Assistant a few times a year, especially if you use iPhoto quite a bit, play games and watch videos. Monitors drift out of calibration over time. If you're shopping around for a new Mac, check out these ideas that will help you make the best choice.
Don't miss any more of my hot picks; get all my free newsletters in your inbox. >> Rookie Rundown: The start to your digital lifePowering off your smartphoneMargarita from Grand Junction, CO, listens to my national radio show on KEXO 1230. She just got a new phone and is still figuring it out. Her biggest problem is that it won't turn off. Whenever she thinks it's off, she presses a button it pops right back on again. She's going to a classical concert soon and doesn't want to be embarrassed if it starts ringing mid-performance. I don't blame you, Margarita. There have been a few high-profile cases of cellphones disrupting concerts recently. Even in cases where the performer handles it gracefully, it's still embarrassing for the owner of the cellphone. Unfortunately, modern smartphones have just as many power-off options as a computer. Making sure you choose the best one isn't always easy. Just pressing the On/Off button on a smartphone isn't enough. You often have to hold it down for a few seconds. Otherwise, the screen simply shuts off to save power and the phone remains active. To fully turn off an iPhone, for example, press and hold the On/Off button for several seconds. A red slider will appear on the screen. Slide your finger across the slider and the phone will turn off completely. To turn it back on, press the On/Off button. On an Android phone, press and hold the power button. Depending on the phone, you could see several options, including putting it in airplane more or sleep mode. Tap the Turn Off option to fully power down the unit. You may have to confirm the selection. One confusing thing about Android is that some phones will turn back on when you plug them in to charge. When the phone is plugged in, you can't turn it off. If you want to leave the phone on, but don't want to worry about interruptions, I recommend airplane mode. This disables your cellular signal so you can't receive calls or texts. However, any alarms you have set can still go off. So, for the most peace of mind, turning off your phone is still the best bet. A smartphone can be confusing for first-time users. Here is some information that will help you get the hang of them.
What you can win:Your chance to take home valuable prizesHere's the latest winner in my Relax & Restore with Carbonite contest!Each week of my Relax & Restore contest, I'm giving away a free one-year Carbonite Online Home subscription. This week's winner is:
Debbie will rest easier knowing she can back up and restore her computer files for a full year with her Carbonite subscription! Get away from it all and Relax & Restore!Ready for a break? I've got the trip for you! Win the grand prize in my Relax & Restore contest and experience an incredible 7-night Caribbean Cruise with an ocean-view cabin on the beautiful Carnival Liberty. Airfare, meals and entertainment are included! Enter Daily. >> Did you know that Kim's Club members are entered in my exciting contests automatically – every day? Save time, increase your chances of winning and get access to all the great content from my Digital News Network. Plus, not only will you be able to listen to my weekend show on your schedule, you can watch it right on your computer in state-of-the-art HD video! What a deal for less than $5 a month! Sign up now!
Contest site:MacBook Air GiveawayThe MacBook Air is a great computer, but it's a little expensive. Fortunately, Beezid.com is giving one away for free. Open to U.S. residents 18 and older. Expires Mar. 16, 2012. Freebie of the week:BOSS OrangeLooking for a scent to spice up your night. Try this sample of BOSS Orange from BOSS Fragrances. Open to U.S. residents 21 and older. Limit one sample per household. Freebie from Komando:A universal media playerDon't mess around with media formats on your computer. This media player will handle any format you can throw at it. Plus, it plays DVDs and has experimental Blu-ray support. Freebie from GoToMyPC:Free 45-day trial of gotomypc.com (www.gotomypc.com/kim)Use your Mac or PC remotely. Works on PC and Macs! Kim Komando Show listeners get a 45-day free trial. Use promo code Kim. Freebie from Carbonite:Free trial and 2 months free (www.carbonite.com/kim)Hard drives fail. Don't lose your precious photos and data. Carbonite is simply the best online backup. It's the one I use. Get a free trial. Use promo code Kim and get two months free when you decide to buy.
Killer Tip: Is the FBI taking down the Internet?Heavy on the technical sideQuestion:Hey, Kim. I saw you mention that the FBI could take down the Internet on Mar. 8. Is that the entire Internet? How did the FBI get that kind of power? Is my computer safe? I'm so confused! Please explain it for me. Answer:When you ask it that way, Debbi, I don't blame you for being concerned. I think you may see the problem as larger than it really is, however. I don't blame you for that either, given some of the coverage. Without knowing the background on what is happening and why, it does seem very sinister and doomsday-worthy. I'm going to explain what is happening. But first, let me remind you that the Internet was originally designed to survive a nuclear holocaust. Is this a bigger threat than that? Joke:You can always count on me to make you smileA single guy joined a dating site to find his perfect mate. The site asked him what he wanted in a companion. He entered: “I want a companion who is small and cute, loves water sports and enjoys group activities.”
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Pictured from left, guest Larry Kiner, super grand prize winner Cindi Kiner, and me
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