Blog from Micropro

It’s nearly Christmas time and we hope that you will get to spend it with your friends and family. And wouldn’t it be nice to give yourself and your family a bit of a technology-break too? Instead of being glued to the screen at a Christmas table, live-tweeting your Christmas gift unboxing or Instagraming every piece of food that gets on your plate, how about you forget about your phone and tablet for a couple of days and enjoy the company of real people for the change? If you can’t imagine the world where this is possible, we have a few tips to get everyone onboard with the idea.

1. Have a gadget-free dinner. Now, there’s a well-working trick that’s been circling around, and you probably know about it: get everyone at the table stack their phones in the middle and whoever reaches for the phone first pays the bill. This might not work if you’re having a meal at home, but you can come up with a different penalty for taking the phone (or tablet) out of the stack.

2. Reward the gadget-free time. Candy works well, if you have any stocking-stuffers around this might work great too. That’s probably going to work best with the kids, but they might be the ones mostly distracted by the phones or tablets.

3. If a friend texts – call them back. If you are waiting for an important text or contact – make a phone call out of it. First of all, having a verbal conversation is more personal. Secondly, sending messages back and forth might distract you for a much longer time than a quick phone call would.

4. Plan activities during dinner. Any conversation can get into a stall, and as with any other parties, Christmas get-together would also benefit from some extra entertainment. Schedule in some games or activities during your Christmas dinner. Go on a walk or a hike with your family and friend after opening your Christmas gifts.

5. Have a “Social Media break”. If your family and friends really cannot sit through a Christmas dinner without Instagraming, Facebooking or Tweeting – pencil in a break for the social media updates & check ups. Perhaps, this might result into a more thoughtful updates too.

These might be handy even after Christmas too. We hope you have a very peaceful and joyful holiday.

Pretty much all of us with a decent access to the Internet have some sort of a social media profile. We like sharing our happy moments, sometimes sad moments, commenting on other people’s moments or to post something to lighten up mood or express a concern. However, sometimes we tend to forget how these updates might affect our lives and relationships with other people, and in some occasions social media posts can get us into a real trouble.

So, here are 5 basic principles of sharing something on social media.

1. Pictures. Think about who you want to see your pictures. If it’s shared on Facebook, you perhaps want to make sure that you select the type of people that see your post. You can do that by selecting “Public” or “Friends Only” right next to the “Post” button. It’s a good practice to keep your posts mainly “Friends Only”. If they are “Public” anyone can see these photos by simply looking you up on Google.

2. Avoid posting anything when you’re at work. Depending on your work of course, but you would think that your boss would like to think that you are working somewhere between 9-5. Posting something often during the work hours can affect your future employment too. Modern day employers are now looking up your social media profiles and can see when you’re posting something during work hours or if you’re posting something embarrassing that could potentially cost you the job.

3. Comments. Sometimes you feel like you have something to say on the matter. In general, if you don’t have something nice to say, it’s probably not a good idea to say it. But if you’re really thinking of expressing your thought on something someone else has said, think about it: is your comment visible to public, can it get you in trouble and if you can stand your ground when someone approaches you on a subject. Whatever you do, think about your reputation and the reputation of the person you’re posting your comment to. Be nice, and don’t get people in trouble.

4. Are you oversharing? Some things are meant to be kept private. Share happy moments, or remarkable moments, moments of significance. If you’re posting 10 pictures of the cat looking out of the window, or posting 15 links to funny videos each day, perhaps you should reconsider why you’re on the social networking site in the first place. It is the place to share. But it’s also a place to socialise on. Instead of posting those 10 pictures, catch up with the friend you have not heard from for a while. Same time, more significance to you.

5. Think twice, post once. When you feel you have something to say, when you feel you have a rant brewing up, why not simply pick up a phone and call a friend and discuss it? Perhaps, the matter is simple and not as the-end-of-the-world as you have imagined. A good friend will help you get through it better than a few strangers who post on your comment on Facebook.

And most important outtake from this: think before you post. You never know who will find your posts & sometimes it’s just easier and better for yourself to talk to someone instead.

If you’re considering an option of buying a tablet instead of laptop, perhaps, these handy uses will help you make the decision for the tablet. Although, we still like laptops too, and some of these tips will show you how you can use a tablet as a secondary device.

1. Get more focused. Need to focus on one task at a time? You can only have one task open on the tablet at any one time, so you’re sure to be focused on that; as opposed to the laptop when you have multiple programs and browser windows open.

2. Read. As simple as it sounds, it’s a digital reader at your hands and it’s much easier to read off a vertical screen when you want to get a feel of a book. Besides, there are so many books available for tablets now, you can have an entire library at your fingertips.

3. Play. Use your tablet as an entertainment centre for games, movies and music and off load these things from your work computer. This, will not only free up your storage space on your work computer, but it will make sure you’re not distracted when working.

4. Take notes. Use an app like Evernote to take notes and sync them up with your computer and phone. A tablet is fast to start and applications are only a few taps away – so much easier that starting up your laptop. And for the loud typers – the screen tapping is more silent than the keyboard bashing.

5. Remote control. You can use your tablet as a remote control for your Smart TV or for your computer, just looks into your device specification and see what apps it will support.

So, laptop  or a tablet? You can have both with the TOSHIBA Click-Mini. Not decided? Pop by our shop and check some of the offers on both laptops and tablets this weekend.

If you’re out of time to make a proper costume or just want something simple for your halloween outfit – here are some things you can easily print. And if you’re up to a challenge you can also put your hands on something more elaborate.

1. Simple masks. We’ve found a bunch of free and simple masks for you to print over at Super Punch – in case you need something super quick and fun.

2. Foldable masks. This will take a little bit more effort and some glue, but it’s still as simple as just printing off a mask on the printer. Get the different templates at Cut & Fold Costumes.

3. Lightsaber. Over at Disney website they actually have quite a few fun printable ideas & this one is not only quick and easy to make but will also satisfy your inner geek without having to put a lot of effort into the costume.

4. Steve Wintercroft masks. Want something original and a little more elaborate. These masks are guaranteed to have you noticed at any Halloween party – and we think that they look good enough even as house decorations – so, reusable.

5. For the dedicated: Iron Man suit. This will take some top-level dedication and perceveirance but if you end up making this costume it will sure turn some heads. Get a full step-by-step here.

Don’t have a printer? Pop by on your way from work and pick up a cheap and cheerful EPSON printer from our range. It takes minutes to set it up, you don’t have to connect it to your computer & you’ll have a printer costume for your party in a matter of minutes. We’re open 9AM – 6PM Monday – Saturday.

Choosing a good business printer is not a simple feat: it has to be efficient, economical and multifunctional. Thankfully, EPSON WorkForce offers all these and more. Here are just five reasons to choose the printer from this range over your usual laser printer.

1. Efficiency: All of the Workforce Pro range printers use up to 80% less power than competitive color lasers thanks to its no-heat technology. No ozone gas is emitted, and an improved quiet print mode and no fan noise during or after printing makes it ideal for the work environment. And there are fewer consumables and parts to replace than a comparable laser.

2. Time saver: Focused on keeping offices productive, this multifunction is faster than competitive colour lasers on typical print jobs, as there is no warm up time needed.

3. Built for business: Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and Gigabit Ethernet all help to boost office productivity. PC-less scan-to functions, including Microsoft SharePoint using Epson’s Document Capture Pro software, and scan-to-email with LDAP address book compatibility, make it ideal for sharing documents. Users can also securely print using a PIN code to release confidential documents.

4. Easy to use: Easily control the main functions with its smartphone-like 8.8cm colour touch-screen. Automatic double-sided duplex printing as standard makes any job easy and means less paper is used too. Directly print from, or scan to, a USB memory stick. In addition, its front-loading ink cartridges are easy to change.

5. Running costs: For cost-conscious offices this business multifunction has significant advantages over comparable colour laser printers. Its high-yield ink cartridges help this printer to achieve an up to 50 percent lower cost per page than competitive colour laser printers. It uses Epson’s DURABrite Ultra inks, in high-capacity ink cartridges of up to 4,000 pages, which ensure efficiency and productivity.

If this is not convincing enough you can now get up to €200 cashback (inc. VAT) when you purchase a WorkForce Pro range printer. For more details you can check our previous blog post.