Chris Pirillo » present http://chris.pirillo.com News and Reviews! Geek, Internet Entrepreneur, Hardware Addict, Software Junkie, Book Author, Once TV Show Host, Technology Enthusiast, Shameless Self-Promoter, Tech Conference Coordinator, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist, Tech Support Blogger, Bootstrapper, Media Personality, Technology Consultant, Thicker Quicker Picker Upper. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:08:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 © chris@pirillo.com () chris@pirillo.com() Geek, Internet Entrepreneur, Hardware Addict, Software Junkie, Book Author, Once TV Show Host, Technology Enthusiast, Shameless Self-Promoter, Tech Conference Coordinator, Early Adopter, Idea Evangelist, Tech Support Blogger, Bootstrapper, Media Personality, Technology Consultant, Thicker Quicker Picker Upper. chris@pirillo.com No no http://chris.pirillo.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/powered_by_podpress.jpgChris Pirillohttp://chris.pirillo.com 144 144 Mother’s Day iPodhttp://chris.pirillo.com/mothers-day-ipod/ http://chris.pirillo.com/mothers-day-ipod/#comments Fri, 22 May 2009 05:25:15 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/?p=13279 Mother’s Day iPod is a post from Chris Pirillo


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I was fortunate to have my mom with me during Mother’s Day this year. I gave her an iPod, which is kind of funny. Up until now, she’s never wanted one. She had no idea how they worked, nor if she’d ever use the thing. She took it into an Apple store with her, and explained she had no clue what to do. They talked in circles around her about syncing and such. She walked out more confused than when they started.

Mom is a trooper though! She says that when she gets home, she will sync the iPod, since she has to choose between “sync or swim”. Yes – I get my sense of humor from her. She loves technology, of course. She still has the first transistor radio her father bought her several years ago – and it still works!

The iPod I bought for her was personalized, and even has her email address engraved on the back. During the video, I taught her to open the browser and search for something using the touch screen. I explained to her about Apps, and I have a feeling once she dives into looking at them she’ll go crazy! There are just so many cool things she can do using her iPod.

Did she roll her eyes when I told her she could subscribe to my podcast?!?! Seriously?!?!

Just kidding, Mom. You know I love you, and think you’re the best. Happy Mother’s Day!

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]]> Mother’s Day iPod is a post from Chris Pirillo


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I was fortunate to have my mom with me during Mother’s Day this year. I gave her an iPod, which is kind of funny. Up until now, she’s never wanted one. She had no idea how they worked, nor if she’d ever use the thing. She took it into an Apple store with her, and explained she had no clue what to do. They talked in circles around her about syncing and such. She walked out more confused than when they started.

Mom is a trooper though! She says that when she gets home, she will sync the iPod, since she has to choose between “sync or swim”. Yes – I get my sense of humor from her. She loves technology, of course. She still has the first transistor radio her father bought her several years ago – and it still works!

The iPod I bought for her was personalized, and even has her email address engraved on the back. During the video, I taught her to open the browser and search for something using the touch screen. I explained to her about Apps, and I have a feeling once she dives into looking at them she’ll go crazy! There are just so many cool things she can do using her iPod.

Did she roll her eyes when I told her she could subscribe to my podcast?!?! Seriously?!?!

Just kidding, Mom. You know I love you, and think you’re the best. Happy Mother’s Day!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code:

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/mothers-day-ipod/feed/ 3 Father’s Day Gift Ideashttp://chris.pirillo.com/fathers-day-gift-ideas/ http://chris.pirillo.com/fathers-day-gift-ideas/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:13:20 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/?p=7273 Father’s Day Gift Ideas is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Father’s Day is just a few days away. This year I’m more grateful than ever to have my Dad. He is recuperating nicely after his horrible car accident recently. Have you bought a gift yet for your Dad or even your Grandpa? I put together this list of top gift ideas for Dad, with the help from my chat room. Some of these may require you to pool resources with siblings or other family members. But from my perspective, they’re all worth the cost and should make Dad quite happy come Sunday.

  • Automatic Professional Baseball Electronic Scoreboard – Whew. Try saying that quickly a few times. It’s a little desktop piece of hardware that pulls in all of the latest baseball stats and scores. It doesn’t require a subscription fee, and it works wirelessly! Since my Dad is really in to baseball, this is something he’d love. He wouldn’t have to go flipping channels to find all the latest scores.
  • The Chumby – Yes, this is kind of geeky, but it appeals to non-Geeks, as well. It can pull in the weather, the latest scores, and even news. It’s a very interactive little gadget. It’s well suited to people who don’t want to have to do much work to get all of these with ease.
  • Bose QC3 Noise Reduction Headphones – I’ve had mine for awhile now, and I love them. They weren’t even on my radar until Ponzi got herself a set. I tried them, and couldn’t believe how comfortable they are. I cannot travel without them. Even if I am not listening to something, I turn them on to shut out the random noise and chatter on an airplane. It really works.
  • The Flip – Whether you get the Flip video camera, or something like it… get something that’s easy to use. This little device is just amazing. Just turn it on, push a button, and record. How much easier can it get? The quality is pretty good. In fact, for the price and size of this… the quality is pretty darn good.
  • Tix Clocks – I have sold so many of these, just by running them in my live stream. You don’t even have to get six of them. Even having one would be great! They’re so much fun, and a great conversation starter.

Whether your Dad is a Geek or not, he’d love any of these gifts. The point is, make sure you don’t get him anything so complicated that it sits in the box on the shelf until your mom gets tired of looking at it.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> Father’s Day Gift Ideas is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Father’s Day is just a few days away. This year I’m more grateful than ever to have my Dad. He is recuperating nicely after his horrible car accident recently. Have you bought a gift yet for your Dad or even your Grandpa? I put together this list of top gift ideas for Dad, with the help from my chat room. Some of these may require you to pool resources with siblings or other family members. But from my perspective, they’re all worth the cost and should make Dad quite happy come Sunday.

  • Automatic Professional Baseball Electronic Scoreboard – Whew. Try saying that quickly a few times. It’s a little desktop piece of hardware that pulls in all of the latest baseball stats and scores. It doesn’t require a subscription fee, and it works wirelessly! Since my Dad is really in to baseball, this is something he’d love. He wouldn’t have to go flipping channels to find all the latest scores.
  • The Chumby – Yes, this is kind of geeky, but it appeals to non-Geeks, as well. It can pull in the weather, the latest scores, and even news. It’s a very interactive little gadget. It’s well suited to people who don’t want to have to do much work to get all of these with ease.
  • Bose QC3 Noise Reduction Headphones – I’ve had mine for awhile now, and I love them. They weren’t even on my radar until Ponzi got herself a set. I tried them, and couldn’t believe how comfortable they are. I cannot travel without them. Even if I am not listening to something, I turn them on to shut out the random noise and chatter on an airplane. It really works.
  • The Flip – Whether you get the Flip video camera, or something like it… get something that’s easy to use. This little device is just amazing. Just turn it on, push a button, and record. How much easier can it get? The quality is pretty good. In fact, for the price and size of this… the quality is pretty darn good.
  • Tix Clocks – I have sold so many of these, just by running them in my live stream. You don’t even have to get six of them. Even having one would be great! They’re so much fun, and a great conversation starter.

Whether your Dad is a Geek or not, he’d love any of these gifts. The point is, make sure you don’t get him anything so complicated that it sits in the box on the shelf until your mom gets tired of looking at it.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/fathers-day-gift-ideas/feed/ 11 Homemade Giftshttp://chris.pirillo.com/homemade-gifts/ http://chris.pirillo.com/homemade-gifts/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:46:10 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/01/27/homemade-gifts/ Homemade Gifts is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Erin writes: “One thing that always gets people stressed during the various birthdays and holidays throughout the year is finding the perfect gifts for friends and family. I am a big believer in making gifts for people. I always find that people really appreciate a homemade gift. Here is my top 5 list of homemade gifts.”

  • Handwritten letter, card, poem or story. This may seem really silly, but in this day and age, handwritten letters or cards are losing out to the ease of email, text messaging, and public networking sites. Why not sit down and take the time to actually compose a letter on paper? I tried to do this in college, and I found most people really liked getting a handwritten letter in the mail. You can either just write them a letter talking about how awesome they are, or you might even be feeling really creative and compose a quick poem or short story. Either way, it will give them something tangible to read and reread for as long as they have it.
  • Knit a Scarf. I learned how to knit in about one day. The easiest thing to knit is a scarf, and once you learn how to do the basic stitch, you should be able to knit a scarf in a relatively short amount of time. To make this even easier, you can get large knitting needles and chunky yarn. A handmade scarf is just the thing for winter, and you can even make decorative scarves for people to wear even when the weather isn’t too chilly. This will make the knitting go even faster. There are many websites online that teach basic knitting stitches. A great place to get started is a website called learntoknit.com.
  • Framed Picture or a Scrapbook. Most of your viewers probably have either a digital camera or a camera phone. Heck, maybe they even have a regular camera with film! Either way, a great gift is the gift of memories. You can take a picture of an event that is important to them (maybe you went to a baseball game together, or a party) and have it nicely framed. For the more crafty, you can even make a small scrapbook for the person. Let’s say that you and a group of your friends go to a Red Sox game (forgive me, I live in the North East). You can take pictures of the game and pictures of your friends and combine them with clipped out articles about the game or even baseball cards of players featured in the game. It may sound goofy, but it shows a lot of thought and it will give your friend something to remember the event by.
  • Homemade Candy. Even though this sounds like a difficult gift, there are a few basic candies that anyone can pull off and look like a pro. One of the most impressive and yet easy is Chocolate Bark. All you have to do is melt a bag of good quality chocolate chips of your choice either over a double boiler on the stove top or in the microwave. Then when the chocolate is melted, you add about a ¼ to a ½ cup of nuts, dried fruit or broken cookies. My one standby that I always fall back on is a combo of semi-sweet chocolate, mini-marshmallows and broken graham crackers. You can try many different combinations. You will end up looking like a real expert and your friends will love having a bag of candy all to themselves.
  • Dinner. Inviting friends over to dinner is one of the greatest gifts a person can give. Even the most inept cook has a few basic meals that they can whip up for themselves, so why not invite a few friends over and enjoy the food together? Whether it something super fancy or not, people will appreciate the time and effort you put into the meal. A good bonus tip if you plan on doing this is to go with something you have made before and know you can accomplish. Doing something new and complicated may be impressive, but the stress that this can cause is not worth it. Besides, your friends will appreciate homemade tacos just as much as they would appreciate Beef Wellington.
  • Bonus Tip! If you decide to make candy or dinner for your friends, make sure you know about any type of food allergies or dietary needs.
    If your friend is allergic to nuts, you don’t want to make them peanut brittle and if they are vegetarian you don’t want to grill them a steak for dinner. I know it’s common sense, but it will save a lot of trouble in the long run.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> Homemade Gifts is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Erin writes: “One thing that always gets people stressed during the various birthdays and holidays throughout the year is finding the perfect gifts for friends and family. I am a big believer in making gifts for people. I always find that people really appreciate a homemade gift. Here is my top 5 list of homemade gifts.”

  • Handwritten letter, card, poem or story. This may seem really silly, but in this day and age, handwritten letters or cards are losing out to the ease of email, text messaging, and public networking sites. Why not sit down and take the time to actually compose a letter on paper? I tried to do this in college, and I found most people really liked getting a handwritten letter in the mail. You can either just write them a letter talking about how awesome they are, or you might even be feeling really creative and compose a quick poem or short story. Either way, it will give them something tangible to read and reread for as long as they have it.
  • Knit a Scarf. I learned how to knit in about one day. The easiest thing to knit is a scarf, and once you learn how to do the basic stitch, you should be able to knit a scarf in a relatively short amount of time. To make this even easier, you can get large knitting needles and chunky yarn. A handmade scarf is just the thing for winter, and you can even make decorative scarves for people to wear even when the weather isn’t too chilly. This will make the knitting go even faster. There are many websites online that teach basic knitting stitches. A great place to get started is a website called learntoknit.com.
  • Framed Picture or a Scrapbook. Most of your viewers probably have either a digital camera or a camera phone. Heck, maybe they even have a regular camera with film! Either way, a great gift is the gift of memories. You can take a picture of an event that is important to them (maybe you went to a baseball game together, or a party) and have it nicely framed. For the more crafty, you can even make a small scrapbook for the person. Let’s say that you and a group of your friends go to a Red Sox game (forgive me, I live in the North East). You can take pictures of the game and pictures of your friends and combine them with clipped out articles about the game or even baseball cards of players featured in the game. It may sound goofy, but it shows a lot of thought and it will give your friend something to remember the event by.
  • Homemade Candy. Even though this sounds like a difficult gift, there are a few basic candies that anyone can pull off and look like a pro. One of the most impressive and yet easy is Chocolate Bark. All you have to do is melt a bag of good quality chocolate chips of your choice either over a double boiler on the stove top or in the microwave. Then when the chocolate is melted, you add about a ¼ to a ½ cup of nuts, dried fruit or broken cookies. My one standby that I always fall back on is a combo of semi-sweet chocolate, mini-marshmallows and broken graham crackers. You can try many different combinations. You will end up looking like a real expert and your friends will love having a bag of candy all to themselves.
  • Dinner. Inviting friends over to dinner is one of the greatest gifts a person can give. Even the most inept cook has a few basic meals that they can whip up for themselves, so why not invite a few friends over and enjoy the food together? Whether it something super fancy or not, people will appreciate the time and effort you put into the meal. A good bonus tip if you plan on doing this is to go with something you have made before and know you can accomplish. Doing something new and complicated may be impressive, but the stress that this can cause is not worth it. Besides, your friends will appreciate homemade tacos just as much as they would appreciate Beef Wellington.
  • Bonus Tip! If you decide to make candy or dinner for your friends, make sure you know about any type of food allergies or dietary needs.
    If your friend is allergic to nuts, you don’t want to make them peanut brittle and if they are vegetarian you don’t want to grill them a steak for dinner. I know it’s common sense, but it will save a lot of trouble in the long run.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/homemade-gifts/feed/ 16 The Perfect Gifthttp://chris.pirillo.com/the-perfect-gift/ http://chris.pirillo.com/the-perfect-gift/#comments Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:25:21 +0000 Chris http://chris.pirillo.com/2007/12/06/the-perfect-gift/ The Perfect Gift is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Holiday shopping is stressful. We always want to be the one to get the perfect gift for every person on our list. I know you’re busy making lists, checking them twice, shopping, wrapping and bow’ing (is that a word?!) everything… but take time out to read these tips to getting that perfect gift this year.

  • Don’t buy something YOU want, and then give it to someone else. Keep the person you’re buying for in mind. Don’t just think “omg I would LOVE that”… and assume the recipient would love it as well.
  • If you give a gift card, make sure it has the right features. Check to be sure there’s no expiration date, and that it can be used in-store or online. Also, you might want to look into something like the pre-paid AmericanExpress cards. These can be used anywhere AmericanExpress is accepted, thus are more versatile.
  • If you buy clothing, don’t forget the gift receipt. It’s impossible to judge the right size, color and shape. That’s why I personally stay away from buying clothes. Matter of fact, make sure you get a gift receipt for *everything* you buy. You never know when it’s wrong, or defective.
  • Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be expensive in order to make someone very happy. You don’t need to break the bank. Pay attention to the person throughout the year, the hints and ideas. Keep them in mind, and make your gift thoughtful and from the heart. Trust me, it will be well received.
  • Always give batteries with gifts that require them. There’s nothing more frustrating than receiving the perfect gift… only to find you don’t have batteries for it!

Send me the tips you have to find that perfect holiday gift! Or better yet… send me your holiday wish list!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> The Perfect Gift is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Holiday shopping is stressful. We always want to be the one to get the perfect gift for every person on our list. I know you’re busy making lists, checking them twice, shopping, wrapping and bow’ing (is that a word?!) everything… but take time out to read these tips to getting that perfect gift this year.

  • Don’t buy something YOU want, and then give it to someone else. Keep the person you’re buying for in mind. Don’t just think “omg I would LOVE that”… and assume the recipient would love it as well.
  • If you give a gift card, make sure it has the right features. Check to be sure there’s no expiration date, and that it can be used in-store or online. Also, you might want to look into something like the pre-paid AmericanExpress cards. These can be used anywhere AmericanExpress is accepted, thus are more versatile.
  • If you buy clothing, don’t forget the gift receipt. It’s impossible to judge the right size, color and shape. That’s why I personally stay away from buying clothes. Matter of fact, make sure you get a gift receipt for *everything* you buy. You never know when it’s wrong, or defective.
  • Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be expensive in order to make someone very happy. You don’t need to break the bank. Pay attention to the person throughout the year, the hints and ideas. Keep them in mind, and make your gift thoughtful and from the heart. Trust me, it will be well received.
  • Always give batteries with gifts that require them. There’s nothing more frustrating than receiving the perfect gift… only to find you don’t have batteries for it!

Send me the tips you have to find that perfect holiday gift! Or better yet… send me your holiday wish list!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

]]> http://chris.pirillo.com/the-perfect-gift/feed/ 30 How to Handle Remote Tech Support <em>Using <a href="http://www.gotoassist.com/chris">GoToAssist</a> is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party. </em> chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMThttp://gotoassist.com/chris/ http://gotoassist.com/chris/ Network Tools for Windows You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. <a href="http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome">SolarWinds ipMonitor</a>: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. <a href="http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome">Download your free trial today</a>. Or, try their <a href="http://www.solarwinds.com/products/freetools/">totally free tools</a>! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase <a href="http://store.solarwinds.com/s.nl/sc.16/.f">ipMonitor 9.0</a>. chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMThttp://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome http://support.solarwinds.com/updates/New-Customer.cfm?ProdID=568&campaign=ipmon_DL_lockergnome&CMP=BAC-ipmonDL_lockergnome Get Your Own Web Site Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp2">GoDaddy</a> includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp2">code CP2</a> at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order. <p>Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=chris7">CHRIS7</a>, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=chris7">GoDaddy.com</a>.</p> chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMThttp://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp1 http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/default.asp?isc=cp1 VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/13766/rn_a32755/">Parallels</a> or <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/17081/rn_a32755/">VMware</a> (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/17081/rn_a32755/">VMware</a> and/or <a href="http://send.onenetworkdirect.net/z/13766/rn_a32755/">Parallels</a>. chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMThttp://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/19/parallels-or-vmware/ http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/02/19/parallels-or-vmware/ Coupons for Online Shopping <p style="color: red">This feed is fueled by Lockergnome <a href="http://www.lockergnome.com/buy/">Online Shopping and Coupon Codes</a></p> <p> Before you shop next time, see if we have <a href="http://coupons.lockergnome.com/">a coupon</a> first. </p> chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) Partner Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMThttp://coupons.lockergnome.com/ http://coupons.lockergnome.com/