How to add a web application to the iPhone home sc...

Popular demand (among new iPhone users) prompted me to add this quick, yet helpful iPhone tip. Don’t worry non-iPhone users…there is a tip for you at the end of the article…keep reading or skip to the end! To add a web page or application you frequently use to your iPhone home screen: Start Safari Navigate to the page you want to add Tap the Add Bookmark button at the bottom of the screen (+ sign) Tap Add...

Have your Mac start a program when you start the c...

If you are a Mac user and want a program to start automatically, follow these steps: Click the Apple from the upper left hand corner Click System Preferences Click Accounts in the System section Click your user name Click the Login Items button. Click the “Add (+)” button underneath the listed items Find the program you want to automatically start at bootup, and double-click it Close all your open windows ...

Customizing your iPhone home screen – Video ...

This is a pretty specific tip for a relatively new device, but with WalMart now carrying iPhones more and more people will want and need to learn how to take advantage of their investment. The iPhone is a wonderful little tool…IF you learn how to use it and make it work for you. One of the first things you can do with any piece of technology is customize it to fit your needs. With the iPhone, learning to customize the...

Don’t buy a new computer yet

2009 is upon us and computer prices are incredibly low, but if you can wait a year to buy a new computer, I would highly recommend it. Why? Microsoft plans on releasing the next version of Windows either late in 2009 or early in 2010. All indications point to the earlier release since Microsoft is anxious to bury Vista. Last week, Microsoft extended the life of Windows XP for a fifth time! This indicates the continued...

Using the Macintosh Dashboard – Video Tip

This week’s tip is for those of you who have taken my advice and moved over to the Macintosh world. The Mac has a nice feature that remains unused for many new Mac users. It’s called the Dashboard. The Mac Dashboard consists of literally hundreds of helpful or just plain fun, customizable widgets that can be instantly viewed or instantly pushed out of view. Mac computers ship with a couple of dozen widgets ranging...

Running multiple applications

Since Windows 3.1 in the early 90s, we have been able to run multiple programs at the same time with our computers. Probably the easiest way to take advantage of this feature is learning to use the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut. At least four times this week, clients asked me what I was doing to switch between open windows so quickly. When I showed them the Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut, the seemed to be both mesmerized and...

Pandora Internet Radio – Video Tip

Pandora.com qualifies for yet another Web 2.0 application. Pandora started as a project to find the similarities in music and why we like certain music and why we don’t. The Pandora folks eventually made all their study of music into an amazingly customizable and accurate music service. To sign up is free although I recommend paying for the service if you use it a lot. Once you sign up, you start by building your own...

Treo, what Treo?

After two solid months of using my iPhone 3G, I decided it was time for a short update. As many of you know, I used a Palm device for many years, ending with the Treo from 2003 through this August. When the first iPhone came out, I was intrigued, but thought Apple missed the boat, for me, by not utilizing the fastest cellular data network and not allowing 3rd party applications. When they announced the new iPhone last January...

Special edition of Castellini on Computers Radio P...

This Friday there will be a special edition of the Castellini on Computers Radio program on our local public radio station, KAFM. Anyone can listen from any where by listening to the live web stream at the KAFM web site. Like all public radio stations, they host an annual fund raiser to keep the air waves open. The KAFM management asked if we would be willing to do a special edition of the show during the fund raiser,...

Does this give you any confidence in MicrosoftR...

You may have heard that Microsoft teamed up with Jerry Seinfeld (reportedly to the tune of $10 million dollars) to come out with an ad or two to counter Apple’s popular TV spots dissing Windows Vista. Overall, they are spending $300 MILLION dollars on the campaign. Watch the video to see what Microsoft’s ad agency came up with for the opening salvo. After you watch, let me know what you thought of the ad by...

Backup your digital photos with iPhoto – Vid...

Macintosh users take digital photos too. And they also need to make sure their photos are backed up safely. Thankfully, the bright men and women at Apple computers have built in a great picture management software called iPhoto. Within iPhoto, you will find a straight forward method of backing up your photos. Here’s how: 1. Start iPhoto 2. Hold down the Command key on your keyboard and select which folders,...

My iPhone 3G is on its way

Finally, after an almost 4 week wait (between working with my current provider and ordering the new phone), my new iPhone 3G is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Last year when the first generation iPhone appeared on the scene, I spoke up and said that the iPhone was too expensive, too slow, and not expandable (lack of add-on applications). Being a long time Palm user, then the Palm smartphone series user, I saw that the first...

Are Macintosh computers poised to make a run?

JUNE 2008 UPDATE: I wrote the article below two years ago, ran across it tonight and wanted to write an update to it. At the time I wrote it, I think the now famous Apple and PC guy commercials had just started ramping up and the ominous steps towards Windows Vista were getting closer. My words probably weren’t unique at the time, and I don’t claim to be a sage, but it is astonishing how much the market has...

I no longer recommend Ubuntu or Macintosh

If I keep recommending Linux/Ubuntu and Apple Macintosh to my customers, I will have to find another line of work. Admittedly, I came to the Linux table very late (just over a year now) and have only been luke warm to Macintosh over the years. Windows Vista put me over the edge last year, and I started looking seriously at other operating systems. What I found in both Ubuntu and Mac OSX was an extremely stable, secure,...

Mozy Online Backup – Now for Mac too

A couple of months ago I reviewed a couple of the online backup services and really liked (and continue to use) the Mozy Backup service. Today, Mozy announced the release of their online backup system for Macintosh users. You can read more about it and try it out by clicking this link.