News - Part 2

Lena Dunham Is A Lying Liar Who Lies

Lena Dunham is a very clever writer, a brave actress and an intelligent woman with some insightful things to say about relationships. Relationships between: parents and their adult children, bosses and employees, husbands and wives, friends, roommates, idol-worshipped heroes and their worshippers, and between romantic or hook-up partners. She is also a savvy businesswoman who’s adroitly navigating the entertainment business. For all of these things, I greatly admire Lena Dunham. However, Lena Dunham is also a lying liar who lies. In her breakout hit HBO series Girls, which Dunham writes as well as sometimes directing and producing, Dunham casts and writes herself in the role of Hannah Horvath: the Regular Girl, the Smart Girl, the Not-Hottie, if you will. Hannah is smart and funny, and prone to bouts of neurosis and narcissism, but no more so than anyone in their 20s who lives in New York (or L.A., or Chicago, or London, etc….

The Audible DailyDeal: It’s A Thing, But You Might Never Know It

* * * the Anker® 2nd Gen Astro Mini 3200mAh Lipstick-Sized Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank, currently 75% off and priced under $10 on Amazon (as of 7/14/15). Advertisers make it possible for Digital Media Mom to bring you great content each day for free, so thanks for your support. * * * You Probably Know All About The Kindle Daily Deal, But… …did you know there’s an Audible Daily Deal on offer every day, too? Probably not, unless you’re in the habit of checking the front page of the Audible site each day. The Audible Daily Deal is a one-day only discount on an Audible audiobook, with prices on the Deal typically ranging somewhere between $2.95 – $4.95. Audible is owned by Amazon and for a time, the Audible Daily Deal was featured right on the Audible home page on the Amazon site, just the same as Kindle Daily…

SD vs. MicroSD – What’s The Difference?

Today I’m revisiting another popular topic that regularly attracts new site visitors: SD vs. microSD cards. I won’t bore you with all the technical details of what makes a microSD card different from a standard SD card, because I’m pretty sure all you care about is whether or not a microSD card will work with your various devices. The answer is, so long as your device can accept a standard SD card, yes, it can accept a micro SD card — provided you have a standard SD card adapter or USB plug-in adapter (as pictured in this post). You can buy micro-to-standard SD card adapters and USB plug-in adapters on their own, but plenty of micro SD cards come bundled with adapters, too. To use a microSD card in a device that takes standard SD cards (most digital cameras, for example), you just slide the micro SD card into the…

Universal Keyboard Shortcuts: Where’s The Undo In Gmail?

Keyboard shortcuts are handy little key press combos that allow you to quickly perform some action that would otherwise require a little more effort with the mouse. Most programs have them, but they can vary from program to program and power users are generally the only people who ever bother finding out what the shortcuts are for their preferred programs. Still, there are a few that are worth knowing because they can save time, effort and frustration. “Universal” Keyboard Shortcuts There are a few handy shortcuts that are usually the same in ALL programs that allow the user to create content that contains text and images (e.g., word processors, text editors, etc.). To use any keyboard shortcut, press and hold the first key, then press the second key while still holding the first one down.

iPod Touch Alternative: Samsung Galaxy Player

Today I continue my series [which originally appeared on the Kindle Fire on Kindle Nation Daily site] detailing how I freed myself from Apple and iTunes by taking a closer look at the device I chose to replace my iPod, and comparing it directly to the closest iPod competitor. As a reminder, allow me to repeat this from the first post in this series: The Samsung Galaxy Player: my chosen iPod / iPod Touch alternative. Plays music, video and apps, provides internet access, and more. Why am I talking about iTunes and Apple devices on a site dedicated to Amazon’s Kindle Fire? It’s because many—maybe even most—Kindle Fire owners aren’t taking advantage of all the Fire’s music features because they’re already chained to iTunes and Apple devices for digital music purchases, downloads and management. Nobody wants the headache of having to manage separate media libraries for different devices. Many would LOVE to free…

How To Change Your Amazon Recommendations & Browsing History

* * * the Superbpag Bamboo Collapsible Folding Bed Laptop Desk/Table/Stand with Drawer, currently 28% off on Amazon (as of 6/25/15). Advertisers make it possible for Digital Media Mom to bring you great content each day for free, so thanks for your support. Why Does Amazon Think I’m Interested In THAT? A site visitor recently wrote to ask how he could get rid of Amazon’s suggested products on his Fire tablet. Well, so far as I can tell it’s not possible to do away with recommendations entirely, but you can change them. Your Amazon Browsing History Determines Your Recommendations Amazon keeps track of the stuff you look at on the site, and stores that list as your Browsing History. Your Browsing History is then used by Amazon’s site search algorithms to come up with product recommendations based on what you seem to be most interested in most recently. Your browsing history…

WannaCry Ransomware Attack: Run Windows Update NOW

I’ll keep it short and sweet today, because this is VERY important for Windows users. The WannaCry ransomware attack you’ve been hearing about lately is not limited to big companies. This nasty little program can be unleashed on virtually any Windows computer, going all the way back to XP.     Microsoft became aware of the security hole in March of this year and quickly released a patch, so if you’ve been keeping up with your Windows Update “critical” patches, you’re in good shape. If not, you could be victimized by this malware, which encrypts every file on your hard drive and demands payment in Bitcoin to unlock them. To avoid that horrible fate, turn on Windows Update and let it run all “critical” updates.

DMM’s 5/12/17 Freebie Friday: Android Utility Apps

Welcome to DMM’s 5/12/17 Freebie Friday! Today, I’ve got ten free utility apps for Android that are tried and true. Remember that free apps may include in-app purchase (IAP) options or be ad-supported, but given that these apps have been given very high ratings by MANY consumers, where IAP links or ads are present they must be pretty unobtrusive. Descriptions below are from the apps’ product pages.

5/8/17 Movie Monday: Films of John Cusack

Welcome to DMM’s 5/8/17 Movie Monday, where I’ll help you tackle movie night with brief reviews of movies and videos you may have missed that are worth the rental or purchase. This week I’m shining the spotlight on the films of John Cusack. Here are three movies that, taken together, show Cusack’s impressive range as an actor. Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil (R) The most important party of the Savannah Christmas season ends with a bang! When affable host Jim Williams shoots a man to death. The party is over, the investigation begins. A movie that proves truth can be every bit as riveting as fiction. John Cusack plays magazine writer John Kelso. Kelso has come to Savannah, Georgia to cover the glittering, annual Christmas bash thrown by local art collector, antiques dealer and “confirmed bachelor” Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey). It seems everyone in this town has a…

DMM’s 5/5/17 Freebie Friday: Android Apps

Welcome to DMM’s 5/5/17 Freebie Friday! This week’s Freebie Friday offers a cornucopia of mobile game apps for Android. Here are 10 of the most downloaded AND highest-rated FREE apps (4/5 stars or better) from Amazon’s Android App Store as of this writing. Remember that free apps may include in-app purchase (IAP) options or be ad-supported, but given that these apps have been given very high ratings by MANY consumers, where IAP links or ads are present they must be pretty unobtrusive. Descriptions below are from the apps’ product pages.