My DigitalZone

Google changed its requirements for a new Gmail account. Here’s what Google says:

If you’d like to sign up for a Gmail address, you need to have a mobile phone that has text-messaging capabilities.
If you don’t have a phone, you may want to ask a friend if you can use his or her number to receive a code.

The main reason for this seems to be spam prevention. I’m glad I already have a Gmail account because I hate to go through some extra steps. Google also says that it stores “each phone number to make sure it is used to create a limited number of accounts.” I hope this method will work but I’m not too keen on yet another entity storing cell phone numbers, which is more private than land phones. Google does assure that “your number will never be sold or shared for marketing purposes without your permission, nor will we contact you using this number without your express permission.”

Sometimes you don’t want some parts of your website to be indexed by search engine bots. Perhaps some directories are for private use only or perhaps you are working on a test site. If the page is not linked from anywhere, it’s supposed to be safe from spiders because no one knows the exact url, in theory, at least. But you want to make sure that the private part of your site remains private.

There are 3 common ways to prevent search engines from indexing some directories or files.

1. Using robots.txt
   When a search enginge crawlers visits your site, it looks for a file named robots.txt for instructions for your site. In order to prevent any well-behaved crawlers from indexing a directory, you will put the following in robots.txt.
   
User-agent: *
Disallow: /directory_name/

   If you have 2 directories, MyData and TestData, that you want to keep private, robots.txt will look like:
   
User-agent: *
Disallow: /MyData/
Disallow: /TestData/

   The asterik * indicates that this instruction is for all spiders. If you only want Google bots from indexing, then you will use:
   
User-agent: googlebot
Disallow: /MyData/
Disallow: /TestData/

2. Using meta tags in each file
   You can put the following meta tag between the < head > and < / head > tags in any file you do not want search engine spiders to index. (Remove the space before and after < and > .)
   
< meta name="robots" content="noindex" / >

3. Using a password
   You can password protect files and directories either using a web server control panel or using applications that have a password option.

I encountered a strange problem with Excel 2007. First, I used Page Set up and chose “Fit 1 page wide by 1 wide, then used to Print Preview to preview the document. The preview showed the document is 4 pages long. I was surprised and switched the view to Page Break View. I tried to move the blue page break line so the document would fit into one page. Another surprise! Now, the page break was everywhere. In fact, each cell had a page break, so it would print only one cell on a page.

I tried lots of things to fix this for the next 30 minutes or so. I searched the internet and found out this was a rather common bug in Excel 2007. For example, this thread at xtremepccentral.com initially indicates it can be a bug related to margin sizes. Then, a poster points to this solution, which involves deleting excel.exe. Well, I didn’t want to follow this advice because the PC I was using was company’s. I didn’t want to upset our IT people. So, I tried a lot more things, and somehow I could solve the problem. I did so many things other than un/reinstall Excel, so I don’t know what fixed the problem. I’m sure I’ll encounter this problem again. I’ll make sure to note the fix next time around.

T-Mobile G-1 Android phone, the first mobile phone built with Google’s operating system, Android, was launched last fall. Even though I am leaning toward staying with Verizon as you can see in this post, I still want to look around to see if there are better alternatives for me.

Reviews on the Internet
The reviews I could find on the internet were mixed. For example, gizmod.com lists 5 flaws of T-Mobile G1.

1. Contacts and syncing problems
2. No video capability
3. Hardware inadequency
4. No internal strage for media playback
5. Locked to T-Mobile

The same gizmod.com also has a very detailed, somewhat positive review here.

All of the above are probably typical of any product during an initial launch. With a little more time, I’m sure the product will get better. It’s a good looking phone with some twists.

If you want to get some deals, there are already some listings for the Android phone and a lot of people are actually bidding for it

US $58.00 (4 Bids) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 15:00:35 PST Buy It Now for only: US $145.99 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $76.00 (6 Bids) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 12:00:01 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $71.00 (17 Bids) End Date: Friday Feb-10-2012 10:56:01 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $66.00 (14 Bids) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 9:00:47 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $86.00 (20 Bids) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 8:00:53 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $73.00 (33 Bids) End Date: Monday Feb-06-2012 8:00:39 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $106.00 (30 Bids) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 20:00:34 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $152.50 (10 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 18:15:26 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $170.00 (32 Bids) End Date: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 18:10:44 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $76.00 (3 Bids) End Date: Saturday Feb-11-2012 14:23:27 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

It’s been about a year since I switched to Samsung Glyde. It’s been a bumpy ride with a few glitches here and there, so I am now ready for my next cell phone. I’ll probably wait until my current 2-year contract with Verizon expires next year. But I want to get started with my research.

Cell Phone Carrier
The first decision I need to make is a cell phone service. Should I switch the carrier or not? I’ve been a happy customer of Verizon Wireless for about 6 years now. I had a Sprint cell phone before and the signal quality was terrible at the time. As I was living in a newly-developed suburb, I had to pay a roaming charge even when calling from home. Ridiculous. So, I switched to Verizon. The signal quality was superb. No more roaming charges for calling from home.

Signal Quality
I don’t travel a lot but when I travel, I could always count on getting good signals with Verizon wherever I go. My friend and I went for a weekend trip about 3 years ago, and we got stranded in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi because of flat tires. As two of her tires blew out because of big fat nails, we needed to call a road-side assistance. It was a middle of nowhere with no big town nearby but we were driving a major interstate highway. Her cell phone couldn’t get the signal but mine did. The only times I couldn’t get signals with Verizon were in the mountains in Oregon where there are even no zip codes assigned to the area.

Consumer Reports Review
The consumer reports website picks Verizon as a stanout choice for most people. According to their user survey, Verizon is:

Widely available, among the leaders in satisfaction and connectivity in every rated city, and the standout in customer support. Its prepaid service is as highly rated as its traditional plans. It also offers Vcast mobile TV, a live-TV service offering cable and broadcast channels.

Other recommendations from Consumer Reports are:

A fine alternative where available
Alltel

Though Alltel service is available to only 26 percent of the U.S. population (vs. 87 percent for Verizon), this provider typically matched Verizon for overall satisfaction and connectivity. It’s also among the least expensive carriers for Web access. Its My Circle plan allows unlimited free calls to as many as 20 designated phone numbers, including wireless and landline on any network.

Worth considering, especially if you frequently travel overseas
T-Mobile

Overall satisfaction is similar to Verizon in most cities, though it doesn’t match Verizon in connectivity or customer service. It’s among the least expensive carriers for Web access and for text and multimedia messages. Its My Faves plan allows unlimited free calls to five designated phone numbers on any network.

So, I think I’ll stick with Verizon. When I talk with my friends, I experience an occasional signal drop with my ATT-using friend but not with Verzion friend. Verizon’s TV commercial, as it may seem silly, is true to the fact that Verizon signals follows you everywhere and they are dependable. As a woman who may need a cell phone in case of emergency, I put dependable signal quality as the most important criteria when choosing a cell phone service.