A reader wrote to say his wife has a Kindle and loves reading outdoors. His iPad cost hundreds of dollars more but he can't read it in sunlight. "Not fair!" he said. "My wife grins at me as I struggle."
If you Google the question, "how to read the iPad in sunlight," the first answer that comes up is to use polarized sunglasses. So we bought a pair, and though Joy tried several times during two days of good sunshine, she couldn't read a thing. She followed the instructions from the Web to rotate the iPad 90 degrees, but the screen was still darker than when viewed with the naked eye. It didn't work for our reader either. Which goes to show, you can't always trust solutions you find on the web.
For reading in sunlight, there's nothing better than "e-ink" screens, such as those found on the basic Kindle models. Both the Kindle ($70), the Kindle Paperwhite ($120), as well as at least one version of the Barnes and Noble Nook, work wonderfully in bright light. Too bad they can't play movies or show color pictures.
Here's a plus for Kindle fans: If you run out of stuff to read, any articles you find on the Web using your computer or phone can be sent to your Kindle where they can be read offline. "Amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle" has full instructions for doing this. Basically, you add a button to Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer or whatever you use to browse the Web. Once installed, all you have to do is click it to send the article to your Kindle. Other options let you send articles by email or send documents directly from your computer files. Pretty handy, eh?
Death by Selfie
The news that selfies have killed more people so far this year than sharks has received wide coverage recently. There have been 12 selfie deaths and eight deaths from sharks. We mention it again because the solution seems clear: Teach sharks to take selfies.
The most common selfie deaths are from falls. A Japanese tourist fell on the steps of the Taj Mahal; others have stepped back a pace too far to make it clear they were standing on a cliff. People have also died trying to take a picture of themselves next to a speeding train, an angry bear, a charging bull and the Tour de France.
Internuts
-- EveryChildCanCode.org teaches children computer programming using "BASin," a free language similar to BASIC.
-- Eapplicants.com has links to online job applications, especially jobs in fast food and retail industries. It also has resume and interview tips.
-- "What the Average Person Looks Like in Every Country." Google those words to find row upon row of faces, one from nearly every country in the world. All the photos are of people in their 20s.
Wait, I Didn't Press Play
Chrome users no longer have to worry about so-called Flash ads playing automatically, ever since Chrome killed Flash. But what about other videos that start up out of the blue?
It's annoying when a video blares out of control before you were ready to watch it. To solve the problem, search on the phrase "I Didn't Press Play! How to Prevent Videos from Autoplaying in Your Browser." There are instructions for Chrome, Internet Explorer and other browsers. Firefox users can try the free download, "FlashStop."
Look Like A 'Peanuts' Character
The website PeanutizeMe.com lets you look like a character in the "Peanuts" comic strip. Choose a boy or girl and then select what he or she is wearing, and select a background. With brown hair and glasses, Joy's Peanuts character looked something like her. This is a very clever use of an old programming routine and is being used to promote a new movie titled The Peanuts Movie. Likely we'll see it used frequently now to create your own superhero, android, cowboy or whatever new show or movie is coming out.
Joy shared the cartoon on Facebook, where we've already seen half a dozen others. A "wallpaper" version can serve as the background picture for your computer. There's also a "profile picture" you could use in an email, on Facebook, or wherever you use a picture of yourself. We loved the jazz piano from the Peanuts TV specials playing in the background while we created our Peanut.
Because it's a promotion for the Nov. 6 movie, there's a small ad in the corner. We used the Windows Snipping Tool to crop the part we wanted, but any photo-editing tool will do. On the Mac, you might want to take a screenshot of just the part you want. Hold down the command key and the shift key and tap the number 4 to get the right selection. This was all quite fun.
The Best Password
The best password is easy to remember and too complicated for someone else to guess. We've suggested taking the first letter of a song title or a snatch of lyric and adding some numbers, like an old address. For instance, "somewhere over the rainbow," which gives you SOTR123Elm.
Now we've topped ourselves. Joy used a refrain from Guys and Dolls but got it wrong. She used "when you see a guy looking up at the sky, you can bet that he's doing it for some doll." The correct lyric is "when you see a guy reaching up for the sky ...." Almost everyone often gets a lyric wrong, which is great! No one is going to guess a lyric that has a mistake.
Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwa@gmail.com and joydee@oncomp.com.
SundayMonday Business on 10/05/2015