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Archive through April 26, 2004

The TVClubHouse: Archives: 2004 January - Arpil: The Brief Q & A Thread (ARCHIVES): Archive through April 26, 2004 users admin

Author Message
Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 3:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I know enough about computers to be dangerous. I will be traveling soon and need to know how I can access this site.

I have dsl thru comcast at home and don't know how I can use this service while traveling on the road, literally. Please explain how this works very simply. I will be taking my laptop with me, how do I access my provider?? Or do I have to go places and hook up to their access and pay for it. The whole wireless thing makes me crazy since I don't understand how it can be secure, but i will deal with that once I get back from Oklahoma, OK (Take the final four, OSU). Thanks for any help you can provide.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 8:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dipo: First you should check with your provider and see if dialup service is available from them and if it is part of your package or a separate cost. If it is separate, you may prefer to consider something like Juno (Ask Juju about that) for dialup. The preferred access though would be a hotel which offers internet connections in the rooms. These are typically a small extra fee for the access but it should be comparable to the speed you're used to with DSL if not faster.

Accessing TVCH on the road isn't any different though. Once you are connected to the internet, if you have them, your bookmarks should work fine. If not simply point your browser to www.tvclubhouse.com and you'll find your way here just fine.

Hope that helps.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 12:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dipo, you "could" do a free AOL trial during the period you will be on the road, although I never recommend aol, as I hate them.

You could also sign up for Juno and make do with either their free 10 hours a month, which is a bit annoying because you have a banner blocking some of the screen, or pay $9.95 for a month, which is probably worth it. Then you just want to make sure you stay in towns on the road that are big enough to have a local access number, which generally is towns over about 30,000 population.

If you get Juno, you will download the Juno program into your laptop. Then when you go on the road, each night after you check into a motel (go for ones that have free local calls), you open up the Juno program and go to Connection which you will see at the top of the screen. Then you will put in the telephone number of the motel where you are staying. It will take you through a couple of screens where you will fill in things such as dial 9 to get an outside line. When you are finished, you exit that screen and click on the Web icon, and it should start dialing up to the internet.

This dialup method is going to work the same with AOL and probably with any dialup that comcast gives you to use. You have to set it up every night to call in to a local number from each location as you change locations on the road. Or comcast may have an 800 number for you to use.

Juno has its own browser, which I do not use. I prefer to use Internet Explorer, which you probably already have installed on your laptop. Once you get connected to the internet with Juno or AOL or comcast, (you should see a little icon with flickering blue or green monitors down in your icon tray when you are connected), you can open Internet Explorer (I keep a shortcut for it on my desktop) and surf the internet like you usually do.

Or you can try to only stay in hotels that have free wi-fi.

If you are going to use dialup, I find it helpful to bring along an extra telephone cord. Oh! Did I mention, you have to plug the computer into the hotel room phone receptacle? Sometimes you have to unplug the phone in the room to use that cord, and sometimes you can put your cord into an extra jack on the phone.

I also find it helpful to bring along an extension cord and an outlet adaptor so that you don't have to unplug the only lamp in the room to power your computer.

That's all I can think of right now.

Dipo
Member

04-23-2002

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 5:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Wow, excellent tips, I would never have thought of the phone cord or extension cord and I have lots of both.

Thanks Dra I will give them a call to see if they have a dial up.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 5:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dipo: Please be sure to check with the hotel you are planning to stay in for access to a data port or similar analog line for computer access. Some newer hotels have upgraded to a digital telephone system throughout the building and attempting to plug into that circuit can cause severe damage to some equipment, either theirs or yours.

On a positive note, most hotels that have upgraded, include the data port (extra phone jack) on the side of their telephone set or elsewhere in the room, where you will plug your computer into.

Hope that helps.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 10:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dra, what are you saying? That dialup from motel rooms may no longer be automatically safe? That I have to be careful about just plugging into the telephone jack from the wall without going through the phone? I haven't even heard of that. Of course, I usually stay in older run of the mill hotels too.

Mware
Member

09-14-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 9:59 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Can a .pdf file be converted into a .doc file? How?

Weinermr
Member

08-18-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hi Mware,

There are conversion programs out there. I don't know if there are any freeware versions, but there are several to convert .pdf files to just about anything. Just do a Google search and you'll find them. Good luck.

Ed. This is a very bad solution, but you can save the .pdf file as a .txt file, and then open that with Word and save it as a .doc file. You'll lose much if not all of the formatting that way though, but it might help with something relatively straightforward.

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
you have to have adobe acrobat (not the viewer, but the program that creates .pdf files) to be able to manipulate a .pdf file

Weinermr
Member

08-18-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Mware,

Here's a link. I can't vouch for the program, and I haven't used it, but here is some freeware. This has a limited trial period, but you may be interested in it. There are others.

PDF to DOC converter

Mware
Member

09-14-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I took your suggestion, Weinermr, and downloaded the program. I did a successful conversion according to what it told me to do, but when I went to look at the new .doc file, it looked like it was double-exposed. The new .doc version was simply overlayed on top of the .pdf version. So while I could open it as a .doc file, it wasn't usable because all the text had shadow text behind it.

Any ideas why? (I do have adobe acrobat, landi, but don't know how to use it to solve this problem.)

Zachsmom
Member

07-13-2000

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:27 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
which version of Acrobat do you have? 5 or 6?

Weinermr
Member

08-18-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Hmmpphhh. Probably if you pay for the program, the shadow text would go away. I guess it isn't really freeware after all. Sorry about that Mware.

Zachsmom
Member

07-13-2000

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
If you have full version of Acrobat, you should be able to just go to "File" --> "Save As" and in the drop down of your file type save choose "Microsoft Word Doc (.doc)".

Mware
Member

09-14-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Z-Mom -

I have the 5.0 version of Adobe Acrobat. When I have the file open in there and click on File, I don't get a Save As option. I do get "Save a Copy" though. When I choose "Save a Copy," and the window opens up to choose where to save it, the only choice I have for a format is .pdf in there.

Zachsmom
Member

07-13-2000

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Okay, give me a minute to download 5.0. (I have 6.0)

Zachsmom
Member

07-13-2000

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 11:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
adobe only has 6.0.

Is this only 1 document that you need converted? or do you have multiple on a continuous basis? If it's just 1 doc I can convert it for you!

I could possibly create a program in word that would import a .pdf and show as a doc file. (that would get around you needing to purchase adobe 6.0)

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 11:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
One note to add to this conversation: with Adobe Acrobat, the creator of a document can set various levels of security including preventing you from saving, printing, editing, etc. without the password to unlock the document. You would need to look at the status bar on Acrobat Reader to see if and what level of security is set for the document to determine if this might be the problem you are having with the conversion.

Mware
Member

09-14-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 11:17 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
It was just a one-shot thing. Somebody e-mailed me a one-page form for work, and I wanted to save it so I could retrieve it whenever I needed it without having to open it with Adobe Acrobat.

Zachsmom
Member

07-13-2000

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 11:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
okay, email it to me and I will convert it. Email it to<>

Mware
Member

09-14-2001

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 11:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I've tried twice, ZMom. It got bounced back both times as undeliverable.

Zachsmom
Member

07-13-2000

Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 11:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
let me pm you my home email

Zules
Member

08-21-2000

Monday, April 26, 2004 - 11:17 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I have a friend who recently bought Tivo and LOVES it! He has satellite, I have cable. So my question is, does Tivo work on cable or only on satellite?

Zules
Member

08-21-2000

Monday, April 26, 2004 - 11:44 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Nevermind, I just answered my own question. Thanks anyway!

Jan
Member

08-01-2000

Monday, April 26, 2004 - 12:40 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
yeah but what is the answer??? and is it only available in the USA?