iPhone – cool because it’s marketed th...

I saw an iPhone commercial this weekend. The iPhone is Mac’s newest gadget that is being marketed by people who like to all be different in the same way. I can’t decide which new product is worse, the iPhone or the Palm Foleo. Perhaps they are equally bad for the same reasons. Both devices are marketed as the next step in portable data evolution. Both devices make this claim as they are left in the dust by devices...

Actual drop in computer productivity from 1986 to ...

I just "Stumbled Upon" this article from Hubpages.com and article which compared one of the earliest 'personal' computers (an Apple Mac Plus). What it concluded was what Adam and I complain about on the show often and what all computer users feel when they sit down at their keyboards; our computers are not any faster today, than they were 10 or more years ago. Processors, hard drives, RAM have all...

iPhone cartoon – Yep, this about sums it up

I ran across this cartoon in a random site today. Mac folks are very excited about the iPhone that is due out later this summer. The iPhone is a device that does some things that smart phones have been doing for a long time. Most Treo and Blackberry users have had the features that the iPhone boasts of for almomst a decade. The feature that makes the iPhone so high in demand is the little Apple logo that is found on the...

Ubuntu Linux!!!

Last week I installed Windows Vista on my fine running XP machine (less than six months old) and have been tolerating it since then and learning about its quirks and features. I have actually been using Vista since September and besides the integrated search (which can be added to XP through multiple channels for free), I honestly do not understand what the heck Microsoft did for nearly six years between operating systems....

Rethinking “old” computers

With Vista now being the only main stream choice for a new computer, I have stared to develop a new strategy to look at "old" computers. Computer users who have late model Windows 98 machines (bought in 1999-2000), they might be able to get a few more years out of their systems and get a more updated operating system by switching to a Linux based system. I plan on doing some testing over the next few months of...

Is it not ok anymore to be content with what we ha...

I have had Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 sitting on my desk for more than three weeks now. I spent nearly $300 buying the stupid products so that I can install them on my machine, but I haven't. It's not because I haven't had time…I just have no burning desire to go through with the change yet. My Windows XP machine is running awesome, I like the configuration of my system and just don't want...

Is your computer ready for Windows Vista? Do you c...

We are less than a week away from the consumer launch of Windows Vista…the next generation of Microsoft's operating system that runs on 95% of the world's computer. Do you need the upgrade? The short answer is "NO". Will you have a choice if you buy a new computer? No, unless you choose to buy an Apple computer. Is the new Windows Vista that much better than Windows XP? No. In fact there are very...

Is the iPhone another Newton?

For those of you who don't remember the Newton, it was Apple's first and last foray into the handheld computing market back in 1993. Although it was ground breaking and unique, it was a little ahead of its time and definitely too expensive. The Newton was a little too big to be called a true handheld computer and only worked with a heavy, built-in rechargeable battery. Just three short years later, a small company...

No AM Radio in iPods and other portable music play...

There are so many MP3 players on the market that they now all look the same. The iPod, the Sansa, the Zune, the Zen, there really is no difference. Sure one may be a little more popular and another may be more compatible with non-proprietary formats and software, but in the end they all have the same set of features. Pretty much every manufacturer, except for the iPod, features a built-in FM radio. The built-in radio is the...

Mac viruses up 75% over past 2 years

While reading through the news from last week, I came across this story at CNN about the increase in the number of viruses in Macs this year. The story gives most of it's attention to a story from last week about a PC viruses that was found on very few iPods (less than 1 percent). Reading a little further down, I saw this little gem: "Oliver Friedrichs, director of security response at Symantec, a leading anti-virus...

Windows Vista – Day 1

I installed the Windows Vista Beta edition I downloaded yesterday and so far have no evidence to overturn my initial observations. The install took about 55 minutes and was entirely hands off…an improvement from previous Windows installations. The boot up process is slower than Windows XP and shutdown is really slow. And this is all without adding any software to the computer yet. Microsoft tells us that Vista will be...

The infamous Mentos and Diet Coke Video

Adam first shared this with me a few weeks ago. Since then it has been copied many times and has garnered world wide attention. If you haven’t seen this video, you will have fun. High speed Internet will make viewing easier, but it is worth the wait even if you are using dial-up. Also, make sure to turn your speaker’s sound up. ...

Microsoft PowerToys

Over the years we have mentioned various Microsoft PowerToys. PowerToys are free tools that help you customize or enhance Windows. One of our favorites is the Picture Resizer tool. One of our user group members here in Colorado turned us onto this one and it works amazingly well. Microsoft offers many other fun and useful tools for XP users. The tools are offered free of charge, but Microsoft offers no official support for...

The Trouble with Macintosh Computers

I received a call from a nice woman today who had a Macintosh computer that was on the blink. She made comments about how tough it was to find someone to work on her computer and thought I wouldn’t work on them either. I told her that I could look at it, but if it needed hardware work, we would have to find someone who could work on it for her since I didn’t do that. Sounded as if her disk needed initialized (Mac...

Re-installing a problematic program

Sometimes a program that is giving you trouble will work better after reinstalling it. Here are some tips to help make that process a little easier and more successful. Uninstall the problematic program by using the Add/Remove programs applet in the Control Panel in Windows Restart your computer via Start–>Shutdown and restart; even if the computer doesn’t ask you to do so. After Windows reloads, shut...