Favorite Things

These are items, products, articles that I love for one reason or another! Some of the links benefit this blog (i.e. Affiliates), but I loved it first and then found the affiliate program. I promise!

How to Keep a #Windows Machine Running Like a Mac!

Advanced System Care 11

Best Product for Windows Computer Maintenance

One of my favorite products for cleaning a computer, specifically a Windows machine, running in tip-top shape is Advanced System Care.

 

Advanced System Care, from IObit.com, is an all-in-one solution for keeping your computer running at peak levels. It offers features such as malware protection, malware removal, spyware protection, spyware removal, and tune-up options like memory, disk, and file structure.  The product also optimizes hard drives, keeps system memory clean and stable and removes infections of all sorts.

 

This is not to say you should not have an antivirus, you do. However, I found that the standard Windows Defender works great alongside Advanced System Care.

System Setup

Advanced System Care is easy to install and easy to set up. Below are settings that I recommend to you keep your computer tuned-up automatically, without any issues whatsoever.

 

  1. Enable all advanced system care functions except CPU monitoring.
  2. Go through each setting and make sure anything “Auto” is turned on.
  3. Be careful of anything marked “Secure File Delete” or the like, unless you are a CIA agent or something!  If you are concerned about deleting files, then use it, just understand that deleted is now deleted FOREVER!

 

The cost of Advanced System Care is approximately $30 for 3 licenses, per year. They do offer three license packs, occasionally for around $30. Below is a link to a three pack offer just for my viewers.

 

If you have a computer that runs all the time, such as a desktop, the auto-clean should work fine.  For laptop users who turn their computer off when not in use, may have to tune up the computer manually, every now and then.  You just open advanced system care and choose “Scan”, which is a large button in the center of the interface.  If you are ready to turn off the computer after the scan, simple choose “Fix and Shutdown”.  Choose other options for what suits your situation.  Some cleaning (i.e. registry) requires a reboot.  If you’re taking the time to scan, it’s probably a good time to reboot your computer, anyway.

 

I have been using Advanced System Care for years.  My computer almost never is exposed to malware and I rarely have problems.  I’ve installed it on parent’s computers, friends and neighbor’s computers, as well.  If you’re the local tech-guy (or gal) for your tribe, perhaps get people started on Advanced System Care.

 

On this blog, I try to only recommend things I use and enjoy in life.  Some things may be “One of the best” I’ve used, so I’ll recommend as a comparison.  For this product, it is simply the best I’ve used and kept my computer running issue-free for years.  In fact, I bought a MacBook Pro in 2015.  Although, it seems to be a great product, I’ve since gone back to Windows only.  Why?  Because, I just don’t have the issues on the PC of yesteryear.

 

If you have any questions about advanced system care, installation, or use, please comment below.

Click on the link below to buy:

Advanced System Care 3 Pack License

For More Information on IOBIT.com or their products:  Click Here

#Amazon #Echo (2nd Gen) as TV Bluetooth System

Amazon Echo

Not a Bad Way to Bluetooth

About a year ago, I realized I needed a speaker in my office that brought the sound inside the office.  The TV in the office is setup near the door with the speakers on the back of the TV.  The sound just kind of went into the hallway.  This made it hard for me to hear and easy for my wife, who’s office is just on the other side of the hallway.

Enter Echo.  I bought an Echo and set it up as a bluetooth speaker to the TV.  Now the speaker is solidly inside the room.  I used a bluetooth transmitter tied to the TV to the Echo, which does have a slight delay.  My TV has an adjustment, but there is still a slight difference.  I don’t notice it, but my wife does.  So proceed with this setup with caution.

In addition, I love setting alarms with Echo.  I also listen to music, but usually through a Roku, since the TV is already on.

This works for me and may not for you, but it is a pretty good setup.

Amazon Echo and Bluetooth Transmitter on Amazon:

InvestmentHouse.com: A Great Macro #Economic Newsletter

InvestmentHouse.com Newsletter Page

Macro Economic Weekly Views

On another site I own, SellTheta.com, I’ve made several posts about InvestmentHouse.com and their weekend newsletter.  I wanted to bring it to this user base, since I talk about investments, retirement and the economy on this site, as well.  The newsletter does a great job of giving you a debrief of the previous weeks action and economics, as well as a glimpse in the future.  I also enjoy their occassional rants on economic policy from the governments and how they are counter-productive.  Those have settled down since Trump became president, as most economists are agreeing with the course of the President’s policies.

Each weekend, usually sometime on Sunday morning, they send an e-mail, or you can go to the page:  http://www.investmenthouse.com/frblog.php and read up.  I usually read the summary closely, News/Economy, the bulls vs. bears (An Indicator of Money Flow & Buyers), and Monday’s sections pretty closely.  Since I watch the market during the week, I really don’t need to know the action.  If you are a long term investor, this would be the one newsletter I use to catch up.  For more active investors, this is probably the only newsletter you need to get a handle on the long-term economics of our markets.

Below is a small sample of a weekend newsletter:

MARKET SUMMARY

– The tax reform dance: market drops, rallies based upon a few senators
– Stocks surge back with even NASDAQ punching a new high ticket
– FAANG trying to rejoin leadership, small caps as well
– Economic data back and forth but trending higher ahead of a very busy data week.
– Rally toward yearend may have just caught on for all indices.
– Just when you thought the tax cut news was all baked into the market you get a couple of ‘no’ votes crossing over to ‘yes,’ even Korker’s, and you get a
market recovery, indeed, surge. Thursday RUTX and SP400 sold off on renewed worries the bill would fail when Marco Rubio and Mike Lee were said to be a
‘no’ and a ‘leaning no.’

NEWS/ECONOMY

On a week of back and forth economic news the market showed a lot of back
and forth itself, but the major indices did not give up their trends.

OTHER MARKETS

Bulls and Bears: Pretty large drop though still easily over 60 for the
bulls. That is still in the overly optimistic range and of course the surge
Friday will bring them around again to the upside. This is a warning
indication, but not a great timing device.

Bulls: 61.9 versus 64.2

Bears: 15.2 versus 15.1

MONDAY

Fed hiked rates as expected, has a gentle upward slope as expected, lots
more data to come in the week ahead: Housing starts, Existing Home Sales,
GDP third, Philly Fed, Leading indicators, Personal income and spending,
Durable Goods Orders, New Homes, Michigan Sentiment. A veritable data dump.
Overall the economic data is up and down but trending up.

For the last complete InvestmentHouse.com Newsletter, head over to their website and sign up for their free newsletter: Investmenthouse.com

Rocketbook Everlast Smart Notebook Review

Rocketbook Everlast

I had a need to have a notebook I could write in on my desk. Even though I prefer to take notes on my Surface, I still find the need to be able to write something down on real paper. I still want to be able to archive it in Evernote or keep a .PDF copy of the page. Enter Rocketbook. Rocketbook has several different styles. The one I went with is the Everlast. As its name intends, it lasts! You can erase pages with plain water and use the pages again. The notebook requires a special pen, but the writing is very natural. I just keep the pen clipped on the notebook so I know I’m using the right one. Using another pen would render the notebook useless, so make sure you use the pen!

I’ve been using this at work and I can easily scan and e-mail, send to Evernote, or other options based on my app setup on the phone. Simply take a picture of the page and off you go. Check this out at: Rocketbook Everlast on Amazon

 

Online Personal Finance Software: Pocketsmith

Pocketsmith Screenshot

Great Personal Finance for Everyone!

This is a post from our options trading website, www.selltheta.com

Have you ever found yourself wanting a product to make your life truly easier, searching on the Internet and finding many products that are close but do not offer the full feature set you want. This was true for me with personal finance software over the last couple years. I stumbled across the product that served every purpose I needed and then some. Enter: PocketSmith.

For a full review, go to the post at :  Sell Theta PocketSmith Review