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• Chapter 1: Getting Things Done for Everyone
• Chapter 2: The (More) Serious Business Partner
• Chapter 3: Improving Communication and Social Networking
• Chapter 4: Getting Creative
• Chapter 5: The Well-Informed Reader and Listener
• Chapter 6: Maximizing Leisure, Health, Home, and Travel

Click to view and download Bonus Chapters: iPhone 5 All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Your iPhone 5 is pretty easy to command — a tap here, a swipe there, and you’re on your way.

However, you can use the “hidden” commands on your iPhone to do things faster and easier.

These shortcuts, iPhone-related websites, navigational tips, and pointers on how to use Siri can help you get the most from your iPhone right away.

Click to view: iPhone 5 All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet

About Green Gadgets For Dummies:

Save some green by going green with these environmentally friendly gadgets!

With concern for the future of our environment growing stronger and more serious every day, there has never been a better time to take a new approach to some of the most popular gizmos and gadgets on the market and learn how you can convernt to electronics that have minimal environmental impact.

Green gadgets encompass everything from iPods to energy-efficient home entertainment devices to solar laptop chargers and crank-powered gizmos. This helpful resource explains how to research green gadgets, make a smart purchasing decision, use products you already own in a more environmentally friendly way, and say goodbye to electronics that zap both energy and money.

• Explore the environmental and financial benefits of green gadgets with this friendly reference
• Discusses which gadgets save energy-and which ones create energy
• Learn ways to offset your carbon footprint when you can’t reduce consumption
• Get tips for understanding products labels and avoiding “greenwash”
• Discover how to calculate the energy and money your gadgets consume

Get moving and start living green with this informative guide to environmentally and wallet-friendly gadgets!

Your mobile office | Get real work done on your smartphone.

By Joe Hutsko

If you’re a smartphone owner, you may already think of your ever-present gadget as your number one business partner. Besides sending and receiving email and text messages not to mention making and answering phone calls, of course, smartphones equipped with a video-conferencing feature such as FaceTime on iPhone, or Skype on both iPhone and Android let you meet virtually face-to-face with clients without spending money on travel by plane, train or automobile.

Read the full article: Your mobile office.

Don’t fall prey to hackers and computer viruses.

By Joe Hutsko

With identity theft rampant, it is more important than ever to know how to protect your online information. From your PC at home to the smartphone you carry with you 24/7, implementing security protection tools and familiarizing yourself with (and practicing) a number of common safer online practices can help ward off nasty computer viruses or intrusive hacker attacks intent on hijacking your personal identity and digital information such as banking logons, photos, private email and messaging conversations, and even your Facebook or Twitter social networking profiles.

via Protect yourself online | September 2011.

Getting Green With Gadgets

Some tips on minimizing your impact on the planet while maximizing the green that stays in your wallet in your wallet.

Turn to pages 104 & 105 in Gravy | volume 1, issue 2 | Summer 2011

or

View the two-page PDF here: Getting Green With Gadgets | Joe Hutsko | Gravy | Summer 2011.

Smart apps, smarter you

Smartphones are called “smart” because they do so much more than ordinary cellphones. Besides making and receiving calls and text messages, or snapping pictures and videos, smartphones let you do things you typically do on your computer—albeit on a Lilliputian scale. Pocketing either of the two most popular mainstream smartphone platforms—iPhone or Android—can often liberate you from having to haul a notebook computer to accomplish everyday tasks using your smartphone’s suite of built-in applications, or apps.

Continue reading: Smart apps, smarter you | August 2011.

Ten Green Gadget Money Savings Tips

From Green Gadgets For Dummies, by Joe Hutsko

Some quick tips that can help you save money by using gadgets the green way:

1. Replace single-use disposable batteries in your gadgets with rechargeable ones – then properly dispose of all of those dead single-use cells at your local grocery, hardware or office supplies store
2. Turn down your TVs brightness and contrast settings to the lowest comfortable level; new TVs leave the factory with all of their picture-related settings cranked to the max to standout on the showroom floor, so adjust yours when you bring it home
3. Unplug cell phone, MP3 player, and other gadget chargers after the battery is charged, as well as other “energy vampire” devices that go into standby mode when they’re turned off to stop them from sipping power; or plug them all into power strips so you can instantly turn them off all at once
4. Disable your computer’s screensaver and adjust its power savings settings to turn off the display when you’re not using it for more than five minutes, then switch the computer to standby or sleep mode after ten minutes, then switch to “hibernate” mode after thirty minutes (if the feature is available)
5. Turn off any energy wasting features and settings you’re not using on cell phones, computers and other gadgets, including wireless (Wi-Fi) networking and Bluetooth, and GPS; also, reduce the screen’s brightness and activate auto-lock or screen dimming and shutoff options on gadgets that offer these options
6. Read and review documents on the screen instead of printing them on paper – if you must print, reduce your printer’s quality setting to 300 dots-per-inch, print on both sides of the page, print in color only when necessary, and refill inkjet and toner cartridges rather than buy new ones
7. Reduce fuel consumption and auto emissions by shopping and banking online, and renting or buying downloadable and streaming movies and TV shows instead of renting DVDs at the local video store, or Netflix’s rent-by-mail; instead, choose Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” movies and watch on your computer, TiVo-equipped TV, or other streaming gadget
8. If your thermostat isn’t programmable get one, then set so it’s only heating or cooling when you’re actually in the house; even inexpensive models can accommodate workweek and weekend turn ons and turn offs based on your schedule
9. When purchasing new gadgets, look the most energy efficient models by visiting mygreenelectronics.org, energystar.gov, and the green gadget-aware websites below to stay up on the latest news, reviews, trends and feature stories that can help you make the eco-friendliest choices possible – the longer term benefit can shave more than a little green off your utility bill
10. If donating your mobile phone, MP3 player, or computer isn’t an option when you need to replace it, consider selling it locally on Craigslist, or trading it in for cash or credit toward a new, more efficient model by visiting the gadget trading website EZTradein.com.

By Joe Hutsko

Living a greener lifestyle by practicing the “three R’s” of green living—reduce, reuse, recycle—is something most of us pursue incrementally. You start out by implementing a few green practices such as bringing your own shopping bags to the grocer and turning down the thermostat when you leave your home. As those positive changes become part of your routine, you implement a few more. As you make your way toward a greener lifestyle, consider adopting a few green practices with the various electronic devices and gadgets in your life.

Full Story: Greening your gadgets | Phoenix Focus April 2011.

The back of the Kindle Lighted Leather Cover box with an illuminated Kindle illustration on the front reads “Weighs less than 225g” (or about 8 oz; first pic below) while the back the Kindled Lighted Cover box with a closed cover illustration on the front reads “Weighs only 7.8 oz (221) grams” (second pic below).

While the difference is negligible, the ever so slightly lighter weight of the 221 gram model suggests a revision that may pack other overall design changes and/or improvements over the 225 model – of which I found only three boxes mingled with the dozen or more boxes of the 221 model on the display racks.

Buying online? Can’t help you there. Because the product barcode number is the same on the back of both boxes, it’s unclear how you’d go about ensuring a Kindle Lighted Leather Cover you order from Amazon is the newer, slightly lighter model, though considering the Kindle’s steller sales of late it’s my bet buying the lighted cover today would get you the very latest revision. (If anyone discovers an identifier to help online buyers choose the newer model, please post a comment.)

For whatever it’s worth: A search on Kindle Lighted Leather Cover turned up weights of 240 grams (8.5 oz), which suggests the 221 gram model model may be a third or possibly later revision of the original model. As for the Kindle Leather Cover (without light), a search turned up a weight of 170 grams (6 oz).

Also of note: Amazon has stopped selling the standard Kindle Leather Cover because it seems that model’s locking metal latch system was causing the Kindle to short out, then freeze, or crash and reboot – which is exactly what mine was doing, as others have also reported:

On December 16th, in the 302nd post to this board (near the bottom of page 12), someone from the Kindle Support team responded with this message:

“There have been some forum discussions regarding the non-lighted Kindle cover, and our engineering team is looking into this. Regardless, if anyone is having any problem with an Amazon-manufactured Kindle cover, please call us at 877-453-4512 or 206-922-0844. We will be pleased to replace it for free with a different cover or accept a return for a full refund, no matter when the cover was purchased.”

When I called Amazon to ask for a replacement they offered to send me the lighted cover at no extra cost, but wouldn’t replace the non-lit cover with the same product. When I said I didn’t want the lighted cover, they said they’d refund the full price of the standard leather cover and also credit my account with $25 to apply toward my next purchase. In other words, it’s lights out for the standard Kindle leather cover for the latest-generation model (Kindle 3), as far as purchasing directly from Amazon. You can still find one listed as “used” from Amazon sellers, and from what I can tell, the standard leather cover is still available as a new item from Amazon for the second-generation Kindle (Kindle 2).

225 grams = about 8 ounces

221 grams = 7.8 ounces