The Byte Buyer Offices were in Kearny Mesa in San Diego, off Aero Drive. The magazine was growing, so my offices were upstairs while the rest of the crew worked downstairs. That was fine by me.

I considered myself more of a “Special Guest Star” than a real employee. Being self-employed before, I wouldn’t mind being fired. So I had more of a cocky attitude than the other employees. I could be brutally frank, which occasionally took the publisher by surprise. He did, after a while, appreciate my honesty.

The magazine continued to grow. When I wrote my first article, The Byte Buyer was 32 pages. It was averaging 80 pages after I’d been editor a while. Eventually it pushed 120 pages, which was the maximum the printer allowed before the binding method had to change.

The Byte Buyer grew so much, that McGraw Hill’s BYTE magazine eventually took notice and threatened to sue over the name. Their attorneys felt MGH owned the rights to the word “Byte.”

I argued to keep the name, but the publisher hated it anyway so the search was off for a new name. Eventually they came up with ComputorEdge, using the O in computor to ensure that no one would sue — but plenty of readers were curious about that choice.

The magazine also moved digs, relocating to a new office building. We occupied the entire bottom floor, so the building was graced with a huge ComputorEdge sign that you couldn’t see from the I-15 freeway.

Me at work in the ComputorEdge editorial offices, sometime in July 1988. The computer on the left is my writing computer. The one on the right is a two-modem BBS.

ComputorEdge continued to grow and prosper. It was an exciting time. I had a weekly computer radio show, and was often on TV. We had a great PR machine going, put on symposiums, started up a book publishing branch, and the company was ready to start franchising magazines around the country.

Occasionally I would dress up and play “real editor.” It freaked everyone out as they thought I was going out for a job interview. As if. Too bad I didn’t get the shoes right.

I could tell a boatload of interesting stories about events and hijinks that went on back in those days. Eventually, the lure of returning to work for myself grew strong. I started hitting up my literary agent for more book projects. Eventually I left the magazine, pretty much at the height of its popularity and success.

It would be only two short years later that I wrote DOS For Dummies. Being a magazine editor was the last real full-time job I’ve had. It was certainly an exciting time.

Obviously any information in my books is in need of an update because of this change, though the biggest issue is now that folks looking for the Talk app need to use Google Hangouts instead.

Manual Update Link

Back in 1984 I was just a year out of college. I wanted to be a writer, so I was writing stuff all the time and sending it hither and thither. Fiction was my first choice, and I was on the cusp of success.

In February 1984, I joined fellow online friends for a parachute jump. (That’s another story.) On the road to Perris Valley, one of them handed me a copy of a local computer magazine, The Byte Buyer. It was like a PennySaver or Nickel’s Worth, but specifically for computers. They were looking for writers.

Being eager, I wrote up an article for The Byte Buyer. It dealt with how computer users in those days loved to one-up each other. To my surprise, it was accepted and published in the April 13, 1984 edition. They wrote me a check for $75. Instantly I was a professional writer.

The Apri 13, 1984 issue of The Byte Buyer, with my article on the front cover.

Like most budding writers, I did the first thing that came to mind: Wrote more articles for The Byte Buyer. Surprisingly, they accepted pretty much everything. They even asked me to write more articles and features.

Eventually, in about 1986 or so, the magazine put me on a monthly retainer to write regularly for them. I had my own column, in which I wrote funny things about computers or nerds or PC culture.

Around that time I was working as a ghost writer for a computer book publishing house. I had acquired a literary agent and was seeking to write my own computer books. So my career was in a good place — even though I still dreamed of writing fiction and being a respectable author.

After I left the computer book publishing house, I experienced the terror of being self-employed. Wanting something more stable, I started sending out resumés, looking for a full time position as a technical writer.

As luck would have it, The Byte Buyer was expanding. They needed a full-time editor to handle the growing editorial tasks. The publisher asked me if I was interested. I accepted.

I didn’t know squat about being an editor. I couldn’t even spell. Magazine publishing was alien to me, although I did have plenty of experience with book publishing.

For the first time in my life, I had a job I thought was really cool. I was an editor of a magazine. Or, as I fashioned myself, Lord High Editor.

For most people, getting a table to replace your aging computer is an excellent choice. If you use your computer primarily to check email, social network, play games, and surf the web, then a tablet is a valid option. They’re portable, inexpensive, and you can opt for mobile data, which means you can take the thing with you anywhere.

If you use your computer more for productivity, say you publish the church newsletter, touch up digital photos, or write For Dummies books, then you’ll need a real computer to replace your decrepit technology.

The general buying process works like this:

1. Know what you plan on doing with the computer.
2. Find software to meet your goals.
3. Look for hardware to match the software.
4. Shop based on service and support.
5. Buy the computer!

You’ll notice those steps don’t include anything about brand names or stores. That’s because the most important part about buying a computer (or anything, really) is knowing what you want to do with it.

For example, say you need a computer to edit your photographs. That’s Step 1.

You’ll need Photoshop or some software equivalent to edit your photographs. That’s Step 2.

Find a computer that can run Photoshop. The hardware requirements for Photoshop are listed on the software box or on Adobe’s website. Listed are the processor, memory requirements, storage capacity, and other features that are all parts of the hardware buying decision.

This is important: When it comes to buying computers, software drives the hardware. Unfortunately, consumers have been trained by the hardware manufacturers that hardware is more important. It’s not! You need hardware to run software, so the software dictates which type of computer you get. That’s why software is Step 2 and hardware is Step 3.

After figuring how much hardware you need, seek out service and support. If you’re okay on your own, get a cheap computer mail order or at a Big Box store. If you need more hand holding, or like having an ill computer fixed down the street instead of across the country, buy local! Trust me, there is no such thing as a cheap computer when you need to get it fixed. That’s Step 4.

Finally, buy the computer (Step 5). Don’t worry about next year’s model being faster or cheaper. When you need a new system, you buy it. The same advice applies to buying a tablet: Don’t worry about the next model. If you need it, buy it!

The most annoying examples of Flash are those stupid ads that fold out or pop up on a page. But if you want to see the videos or use interactive features on a web page, you have to tolerate the ads. That’s because minus Flash, none of that stuff would exist.

You can find articles on various Android web sites as well as in the myriad support forums about how Flash is slowly being phased out of the mobile web browsing market. You’ll read urgent-sounding notes about how Flash is unstable or it’s a security threat and blah-blah-blah.

I’m not sure why Google (and Apple, for that matter) are so intent on getting rid of Flash. Many moons ago I would accuse them of being like the old Microsoft, which once disabled competing technologies by deliberately coding around such software within DOS or Windows. (I actually caught them doing so with memory management software back in the 1990s.) But I don’t think that’s the case.

Most likely, the issue is money.

Well, isn’t it always?

Flash provides web site services, services for which you could get a specific app on your phone or tablet. For example, you could access YouTube, Skype, and Google Maps by using a web browser. On your mobile device specific apps are available instead. To me, it’s obvious that Google wants you to use the specific apps, not the web. My guess is that a monetary reason exists for that desire.

Regardless, the bottom line is that if you want to use a service on the web that uses Flash, you eventually will be blocked from that service when you use the mobile browser on your phone or tablet. It’s inevitable.

Finally, a warning: As Google works to fully disable Flash you’ll probably see some “Flash” apps appear in the Play Store. BEWARE! My guess is that many of them will be malware — or worse. Avoid such solutions!

First: Check your Internet connection.

Look at the notifications and ensure that you see the bars, the mobile network icon, or the Wi-Fi icon. If not, open the Settings app and ensure that the data connection is on and working. For example, choose the Wi-Fi item and check for the word Connected beneath the first network listed.

If you’re not connected and believe that you should be, turn Wi-Fi off and then turn it on again. You can also touch the desired network name and choose the Connect command. If that doesn’t work, then the network has a problem — and that’s an entire basket of troubleshooting in itself, but it’s not an issue with your device.

Second: Restart the app.

Apps in Android shut down automatically when the operating system deems it prudent to do so. Otherwise, apps run all the time. To force a shutdown, heed these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Apps, Applications, Application Manager, or a similar command.
3. Choose the All category. You might think to choose the Running category, but the app may not appear there, especially if it’s a core app.
4. Choose the stubborn app from the list.
5. Touch the Force Stop button.

The app ceases, closing up and whatever else an app does when it dies. You can now try to open the app again: Choose it from the Apps screen or touch its icon on the Home screen. Often times cycling a program in this manner fixes the booboo. If not, on to the Second procedure!

Second: Restart the device.

Just as with a PC, frustrating issues are resolved best by restarting the gizmo. Obey these steps:

1. Press and hold the Power/Lock button.
2. When you see the Device Options menu, choose the Restart command. Not every Android device features a Restart command, so choose Power Off if you don’t see it.
3. Confirm that you want to restart or shut down the device.
4. When the Restart option isn’t available, turn on the device back once it’s off.

If restarting doesn’t fix the problem, then it may be something deeper. The only consistent issue I’ve had that isn’t fixed by restarting are system updates. Sometimes the device gets stubborn when an update has been downloaded but not installed. Again, restarting the gizmo should fix that. If not, wait a bit and the update should take.

Figure 1. The Sharp Wizard, my first mobile gizmo.

The Sharp Wizard was my first, real mobile gadget. I got it because a friend at church had one. We needed to meet up, so he whipped out this billfold-like device, types a few items to schedule the appointment, then flips it shut and puts it away.

“What was that?” I inquired. He let me toy with the Wizard for a few minutes. I was hooked. It was far more modern than carrying a datebook, something I despised.

On the downside, the keyboard was alphabetic, not QWERTY. (They had a QWERTY model, but it kept selling out, so I settled for the alphabetic Wizard.) The software was static, so you pretty much were stuck with what came with the device. Also, the PC interface sucked. You couldn’t really get the information out of the device and onto your computer. But the Sharp Wizard was a step in the right direction.

Figure 2. The Palm III.

A leap forward was the Palm Pilot. The first model I bought was the Palm III, shown above. It’s quasi-touchscreen interface was a dream. It also featured a docking station that automatically synchronized information with your PC. That was really cool.

The only thing the Palm was missing was a telephone. In fact, I wanted it to be a phone very badly. But that technology was still about 10 years in the future.

Figure 2. My first iPod. Not the original iPod, but the second or third model.

Some time around 2002 I bought an iPod. It was an odd purchase for me, mostly because I’m not a mobile music person. I’ve never owned a walkman or even a boom box. I listen to music when I work in the wood shop, but not with headphones. No, I think I bought the iPod because it was cool (of course), but also because the kids wanted to listen to music. In fact, they used it far more than I did.

That iPod shown in Figure 3 eventually died. It was probably the battery that went. But I admired the device for its simplicity, so I kept it. Never mind that today’s iPods are far smaller and give more of a punch — or that your phone or tablet makes the ideal mobile music device.

Figure 4. The Palm Zire.

The last gizmo I purchased (one that wasn’t a phone) was the Palm Zire, an update to my Palm III. Unlike my first Palm, the Zire featured a camera, which came in very handy for snapping quick pictures. It also meant that I could retire my original digital camera, the one with the 640-by-480 maximum resolution. (And that sucker cost me $600 back in the 1990s. Alas, I don’t have it any longer.)

The Zire was faster and more flexible than the Palm III, letting me draw right on the screen. It was a great companion on long airplane trips. But eventually it became less necessary as the smartphone era dawned. Now it, like the other gizmos, lay dormant in the boneyard, waiting for me to blog about them once again.

I received an inquiry as to whether I’d be interested in writing a book on Google Glass. For moral reasons, I objected. The devices will not be cheap, which means I don’t think a For Dummies title would sell very well (although I’ve been wrong on that before). Google Glass is just creepy.

In all my years of watching the technology field, I’ve never seen anything so controversial — the gizmo hasn’t even been released to the general public yet.

Link

For example, my son dropped the HTC Thunderbolt, cracking the screen. The touchscreen still works, which is amazing, but the thing looks crummy as all get-go.

Dear Verizon, I’d love to replace my son’s Thunderbolt, but you don’t have any new phones worthy of a replacement! That HTC One would be a great choice, but it’s available only on the AT&T network.

The Droid was the first truly successful Android phone for Verizon. It’s popularity had a lot to do with its physical keyboard. So soon on its heels came the Droid 2, then Droid 3, and presently the Droid 4. That’s four phones in the span of 18 months.

My Droid 4 is over 18 months old.

I believe the Droid 4 was the last Droid brand phone that Verizon introduced. Oh, yeah, there have been variations on other lines, but nothing new or different.

Where are the new phones?

Where’s the Droid X3?

The rumor mill is rife that new phones are on the horizon. Supposedly the Galaxy S4 will come to Verizon soon. I’m hoping to see the HTC One. What I’m really eager to see are the X Phones as promised by Google.

Promised.

Hello, Verizon! You’re in the phone business. You need new phones!

Configure Kids Place by setting a PIN. That’s how you — assuming that you’re a parent — have control over the tablet. Hopefully the kids don’t figure out the PIN.

After asserting your parental authority over the app, you configure the things your kids are allowed to do. You can disable various tablet or phone features, such as the Home button, disable the Play Store, Wi-Fi, all Internet access. Figure 1 displays the Kids Place Settings screen.

Figure 1. The top part of the Settings screen. Plenty of good options found here.

Figure 2 displays the allowed apps screen. You can choose which apps the kids are allowed to use, which also means you restrict their access to other apps.

Figure 2. Pick and choose which apps Junior can use on your mobile device.

Various Kids Place plug-ins are available, which allow you to use kid-specific programs also available from Kiddoware. I’ve not checked out any of them.

The only option missing as far as I can tell is one that restricts the times that Snowflake can use the tablet. In Windows, you can configure parental restrictions to limit access to certain hours a day. (This topic is covered in my book PCs For Dummies.) Such a feature would be nice for the tablet, which would ensure that the kids aren’t using the device all hours or, more accurately, during homework or chore time.

I’ve not had a chance to mess with Kids Place in a real live child situation. Sadly, my little guys are now large, hairy, adult-sized guys. But for parents with wee tots — and boy are they attracted to the tablets and phones! — an app like Kids Place will help you keep a modicum of sanity.