Welcome to ISpeakComputer.com
Steve at ISpeakComputer.com (remove spaces and
replace "at"
with @)
619-299-0428
mobile: 858-699-0025
Offering Consulting, Training, and
Repair for Home and Small Business Computer Users on Windows Operating
Systems. Serving San Diego and San Diego North County Areas.
Steve Powell
Steve at ISpeakComputer.com (remove spaces and
replace "at" with @)
619-299-0428
Mobile: 858-699-0025
B.A. Applied Physics/Electronics, UCSD
MBA, San Diego State University
HOME USERS
I can help you
- Learn how to
use your computer
- I can show you the meaning of My Documents, My
Computer, My
Pictures ... and make these "simplifications" helpful
instead of confusing.
- I can teach you the basics (and more advanced if you
like)
of word processing, spreadsheets, emailing, email attachments,
photo editing -- whatever you're interested in. And probably show you
some things you didn't even
know you could do with a computer.
- Transfer data
from an old computer to a new one.
- Digital
Photography: Basic photo editing, advice on image
manipulation
software, getting started with Photoshop Elements.
- Move photo files from your digital
camera to your computer
- Create
smaller photo files for emailing: If you
have Windows XP, get the power toy from Microsoft called Image Resizer
at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
If you don't have Windows XP, a great free image viewer and editor is IrfanView,
and it has a batch processing capability that lets you convert a whole
group of photos to smaller ones at once. Photoshop Elements has a
similar command.
- Reinstall
Windows and save all your data. If you've
had your computer for a couple of years and have installed lots of
programs that you no longer use, and maybe have had one too many
run-ins with viruses (or a teenager who installed some file sharing
program that has REALLY trashed your system), the best solution is to
just start over. We'll start by copying all your files onto CDs or
DVDs, and then reinstall windows on a clean hard drive.
It will make your computer perform like new.
- Security:
I'll show you how to secure your Wireless network, and make
recommendations
for and help you install Firewall, Anti-virus, and Anti-Spy software.
- For a free Firewall, get Zone
Alarm
- For free Anti-Spy software, get both AdAware
(this link is to their home page -- from there, look for AdAware SE
Personal free version) and Spybot
Search&Destroy (watch out for similarly named
imitators).
- Setup,
Installation, and Training for All Your Electronic Gadgets
- Printer, Scanner, Fax, All-In-One, Web cam, Internet
Telephones, Video Cameras, Cameras.
- Palm Pilot and other PDA's -- I'll show you how
to synchronize your appointments and contacts with Outlook, so
your portable device doesn't contain the only copy of your data. I can
also show you how to synchronize the same data with your Yahoo email,
appointments, and contacts.
- Whatever it is, if you don't want to spend your
time wading
through manuals and researching the Internet, I'll get it working, and
show you how to use and troubleshoot it.
- Office
Applications -- Word, Excel, Access, Outlook,
Outlook
Express, Thunderbird, Firefox, Internet Explorer, WorPerfect,
QuattroPro, Open
Office
(FREE office suite
that works extremely well and is very compatible with Microsoft's
office suite). I can also help you get started
with Powerpoint,
and I
know a great consultant for more advanced work. Same for FileMaker Pro.
A great, free, open source program for creating pdf
files, PDFCreator, is available at http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator
It acts like a printer in windows, so you print to that printer and it
throws up a dialog box for you to fill in filename and other details
before creating the pdf file. Works great!
- AND Show you
how to do it yourself so
you aren't at the mercy of me or anyone else every time you unplug
something.
SMALL BUSINESSES
I have over 20 years of experience working with PC's in the corporate
environment, so I know how to make computers work FOR you to make your
job easier, more efficient, more accurate, and to do things you might
not have thought you could do.
- Mailing
Lists: I can show you how to do this in
Word using Excel or Access or your Outlook address book as the data
source, and even create custom applications in Microsoft Access with
menu driven interfaces to automate your processes. If you don't have
your list in one of these formats, I can migrate the data from pretty
much any other format, saving the trouble and errors associated with
retyping it.
- Data Migration:
I
hate
typing when the data are
already in an electronic format, so I have LOTS of experience with
reformatting and importing data into databases or spreadsheets. Send me
a sample of your present data, and I'll let you know what it will take
to convert it to something usable.
- Training:
Show me what you're doing and tell me what you'd like to do, and I can
show you how to do it more efficiently.
- Customer
Surveys: I have some coursework as part of my
MBA in creating surveys, and I can write with precision. I'm not a
marketing research specialist, but I'm also a lot cheaper than a
marketing research company. If you'd like to do an informal
survey,
let me help you write questions that make sense and can be analyzed
statistically.
NETWORK and INTERNET SETUP
- Internet connection setup
- Secure Wireless Internet setup
- Home network setup
- Wireless printer sharing: With a wireless print server
(under
$100.00), you won't have to have one particular PC hard wired to a
printer and powered on in order to print.
REPAIR
- Add memory
- If you have less than 512MB of RAM on an XP
system, I
recommend you buy more. 512MB of RAM is about $50.00 for the part, and
will make your system dramatically faster. More if you're doing photo
editing, gaming, video editing.
- Install CD/DVD drives
- Install memory card readers (Floppy drive with card reader
is
less than $50.00. With this, you can just plug your camera's card into
the
computer. No need to fuss with a separate USB card reader or hooking up
the camera.)
- Diagnose and repair hardware problems.
About me
Education:
Bachelors in Applied
Physics with an Electronics concentration, and a Minor in Writing, from
UCSD.
MBA / Management from San Diego State University
Hardware Experience: I have over 20 years
experience working as an electronic engineer, both in design/analysis
roles and building and troubleshooting hardware in the lab. I have
designed and built
add-in
cards for PC's, designed and troubleshot power supplies, and
written
embedded C code to control power supplies. (I also owned and repaired
several Alfa Romeos for many years, for you motorheads out there.) What
this means to you is that I am competent both theoretically and
practically -- I'm not a geek who doesn't know which end of a
screwdriver is up, and I'm not a guy with a wrench who isn't quite sure
what screw to turn.
Software Applications
Experience: In my work as an
electronic engineer, I have been using computers in the
office/corporate environment since the first IBM PC in the mid 80's.
(Yay WordPerfect!) One role was as a Components Engineer,
dealing with purchased electronic parts and managing the database of
approved suppliers. I also got involved in converting Bills of Material
from one MRP system to another. This motivated me to become an expert
at data migration using Microsoft Access. I wrote Visual Basic code to
help convert text files of multilevel BoMs to flat BoMs that could then
be uploaded to our MRP system. Part of my job involved writing
procurement specifications, and I got good at creating
Word documents including tables of contents, and embedded graphics that
stay with the paragraph they belong in.
RATE
My rate is $75.00 for the first hour and $50.00 per hour thereafter,
with a one hour minimum, for
service calls within 10-15 miles of North Park. There may be an
additional charge for travel
outside that
radius, depending on traffic and distance.
I don't charge for an initial phone consultation, and I
won't withhold information to try to make you pay. If there's an easy
answer, I'll just give it to you over the phone or by email. I don't
charge flat fees for certain services the way some companies do -- I
saw an ad from a company offering to secure a wireless network for
$100.00. That takes about 5 minutes. If I have to come to your place
to do it, we can do that and then anything else you need for the rest
of the time. I'll give you an estimate up front so you'll have an idea,
and I'll give an upper limit to the price for common tasks.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you!
Steve Powell
Steve at ISpeakComputer.com (remove spaces and
replace "at" with @)
619-299-0428
Mobile: 858-699-0025