Welcome To Jim’s Tips!
I’m Jim Barr, and jimstips.com is one of my little corners of the Internet, my voice for all things tech. I love riding on the bleeding edge of technology, and I love exploring new gadgets, services, Web sites, programs, and anything interesting! Here you will find all sorts of tips and information about those things that interest me.
Explore Jim’s Tips!
Select Category
Select Sort
Wow, What a Wild Ride!
It is now 10 years later, and I sit here typing this very relaxed and unburdened. I just completed a year of serving as the Most Illustrious Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of South Carolina, the fourth year as a Grand Officer in the Grand Council. This year caps 10 years of a very active Masonic life. In the Blue Lodge, I progressed through the chairs and ultimately served…
Machine Embroidery: I caught the bug!
The Geek finds (another) hobby I’m a geek by hobby and profession with some experience in Web design, image conversion, desktop publishing, electronics, etc. I’ve always had a love for processes that can take a virtual design on a computer and result in a physical item. So I looked looking into machine embroidery, and I learned that not only can it produce creative and real tangible things, but it is the process that can really intrugue…
Samsung Chromebook Plus Mini Review
The Samsung Chromebook Plus I purchased a Samsung Chromebook Plus for $309.00 from Rakuten on a Black Friday sale, and after putting it through its paces for a couple days, I am very, very happy with it. I’m not going to go into any details about specs and benchmarks–plenty of other sites do that just fine. I’m focusing on those aspects that make this Chromebook stand out among most others, making MY experience more enjoyable…
The Pebble Time Smartwatch
I really like the Pebble Time Black. It provides everything I need in a smartwatch, and the long battery life makes it worth it. Why I Bought It I was having issues with my LG G Watch running Android Wear, so I bought a Pebble Time, and I have zero regrets. Keep It Simple I used the LG G Watch for about a year, and despite its touch screen, higher resolution, huge number of available…
The Kindle 3G+Special Offers edition
I just purchased a Kindle 3G+Special Offers ebook reader, and I have to say that it has far exceeded my expectations. To me, when assessing a device like this, it is always important to put into perspective just exactly what such a device can and cannot do. First, what the Kindle 3G is: First and foremost, it is an eBook reader. Its pearl E-ink display is stellar, and the screen, like several other eBook readers,…
Vonage: Revisited and loving it!
In an earlier post, I moaned about how though Vonage was a great service, it just didn’t fit our needs due to several significant shortcomings. Well times change, and so have my views about Vonage. We recently got a faster, more reliable Internet connection through Charter Cable, and decided to give Vonage another try. So far, after a few months, the results are excellent, and we haven’t looked back. The shortcomings Vonage had are now gone….
CR-48 and eyeOS – a match made in Heaven?
Many years ago, I played around with an “online desktop” site called eyeOS. After playing around with the CR-48, it got me thinking that a virtual, online desktop just might be useful on the CR-48. Remember, the CR-48 is a completely Web-centric device. It is truly a “cloud computer” because almost anything you do with it requires an Internet connection. When it boots, it boots directly into the Chrome browser fullscreen. In fact, there is…
CR-48 Important Security Tip
I love the CR-48’s fast bootup, and I absolutely love its instant-on feature: Leave it powered on, close the lid, and when you re-open it, it’s instantly on where you left off. This standby mode is easy on batteries, and it is extremely useful to me. BUT… I just realized that anyone who gets a hold of my CR-48 will have complete and full access to whatever is open, and worse, they will have complete…