Tool #3 - Pandora

With Pandora you can explore this vast trove of music to your heart's content. Just drop the name of one of your favorite songs or artists into Pandora and let the Genome Project go. It will quickly scan its entire world of analyzed music, almost a century of popular recordings - new and old, well known and completely obscure - to find songs with interesting musical similarities to your choice. Then sit back and enjoy as it creates a listening experience full of current and soon-to-be favorite songs for you.

You can create as many "stations" as you want. And you can even refine them. If it's not quite right you can tell it so and it will get better for you. 

Visit Pandora

Tool #2 - Twitter

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

Why? Because even basic updates are meaningful to family members, friends, or colleagues—especially when they’re timely.

• Eating soup? Research shows that moms want to know.
• Running late to a meeting? Your co–workers might find that useful.
• Partying? Your friends may want to join you.

With Twitter, you can stay hyper–connected to your friends and always know what they’re doing. Or, you can stop following them any time. You can even set quiet times on Twitter so you’re not interrupted.

Twitter puts you in control and becomes a modern antidote to information overload.

Click Here To Get Started

Tool #1 - You Send It

For years business professionals have been asking for a solution that would eliminate the frustrations of email attachment limits, the hassles of FTP servers, and the need to use overnight couriers to send large files.

YouSendIt has responded with an answer that fits seamlessly into the busy workflow of every organization. The secure, cost-effective and easy-to-use YouSendIt services are ideal for anyone with the need to send, receive and track digital content. 

Key Benefits:

• Plenty of size - Send files up to 100 MB with a 1 GB monthly download limit.
• Spread the word - Allow up to 100 downloads of every file.
• Address book - Keep track of your friends’ and family’s email addresses in one handy location.
• Files remain available for 7 days - Give your recipients a week to download the files you’ve sent.
• HIPAA Compliant - We are HIPAA compliant. 

Click here for more information

Are Your Local Police on Facebook?

Ever think you’d see the day when you could “tweet” 1 Officer Jones from your cell phone and ask him for the big news in public safety today? Or make “friends” with your local police department on MySpace or Facebook 2? Well, for many citizens across the country, that day has come.

An Iowa newspaper called The Gazette online recently published an article about their local Coralville Police Department’s use of social media to connect with the community, and even to track criminals. The article highlights a recent trend in law enforcement across the country in the use of these sites, from Facebook profiles to Twitter--a “Web site allowing users to broadcast 140-character messages to an unlimited number of people, via computer or hand-held device.”

According to the article, Community Relations Officer Meleah Droll uses Twitter on a regular basis, and “tweeted” a description of a robbery suspect to her “followers,” other members of Twitter who watch her activities, to get more people on the lookout. This tactic opens up entirely new uses for social media in law enforcement.

On a larger scale, the FBI has a Facebook page and a Twitter account, and has added social media to a list of courses in media relations for state and local law enforcement.

This new way of communicating with the public is an easy method of getting information about public safety and may even constitute a global neighborhood watch if enough agencies get involved!

View the article in The Gazette here.

Is your local department connected? Look into whether your local and state law enforcement agency is a member of any social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr 3 or YouTube 4.

Perform a web search using your city’s name and the words “police department” and “social networking,” “social media,” or one of the individual sites such as Twitter or Facebook. People/organizations list through search engines in different ways, so you may need to try several combinations of search terms.

1. A “tweet” (both noun and verb) is a message on Twitter.com, a free Web site used to update others on your status via computer or mobile device.
2. MySpace and Facebook are free social networking sites previously used more by young people to make friends online and share photos, videos, music, and thoughts. Many adults are joining in, as well as businesses and other organizations, which use the sites as a free method of public relations and marketing.
3. Flickr is a free Web site used for sharing photos, and has membership profiles as well, though you can search through photos without signing up, just as you can with content on most social networking sites.
4. YouTube is a free video sharing Web site with tutorials, commercials, speeches, music videos, home videos and more posted.

Geeks On Call is committed to safety, especially children’s safety. Visit www.geeksoncall.com/guide to view our Parents’ Guide to Internet Safety for parent tips and a guide to social networking and commonly used chat/texting terms. Call 1-800-905-GEEK if you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment to set up parental controls or other Internet security measures on your computers.

Web Safe Technology for Babies and Young Children

Kids are getting computer savvy from birth now, it seems. Not only are our young children adopting animals online, but now they can surf the web on their own with new toys that control the sites they visit.

- Many toys for babies and young children are being created to help kids make use of computer technology earlier. You’re probably all familiar with WebKinz, the interactive character site with adoptable plush animals. Now there are keyboards built just for babies and toddlers, such as the Comfy Easy PC Keyboard Learning System, and programs that allow babies and toddlers to touch computer keyboards with fascinating results, seeing that their actions have reactions. Try Baby Keyboard from CNET, available at download.com.

- And Fisher Price has come up with a toy with figurines that plug into a circuit board to take your child straight to a web site featuring the figurine’s character: the Easy Link Internet Launch Pad for toddlers. You can disable the mouse and the keyboard, and your child can only go where the toy permits, though he has control over which site.

- Leap Frog has the ClickStart My First Computer, which will turn the TV into a computer for toddlers. There are many other special keyboards with hardware built just for small children that can connect to your computer by USB.

Keep on the lookout for more fascinating new technology developments for small children. And to ensure your kids' continued safety as they surf the Web younger and younger, download our free Parents' Guide to Internet Safety at www.geeksoncall.com/guide.

Geeks On Call is a leading provider of computer repair and computer service for home and business. Call Us Today: 1-800-905-GEEK

Visit Us Online: www.geeksoncall.com/blogger and http://geeksoncall.wordpress.com/, or check out our videos on YouTube.

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