Back in the saddle again…

Can you tell that I'm either a Van Halen fan or from a small town or both? We had a great spring break vacation with our friends, but I'm back to reality again and the rigors of day-to-day work. Thankfully, my job satisfaction rating is off the charts. I love what I do and thank my lucky stars that I found a career that I enjoy doing each and every day. I will take the credit for getting Adam started on smart phones...

Back to work

I just got back in town a few hours ago. I have been returning calls and sifting through emails. One of the drawbacks to technology is that it makes it easier for work to stack up while you are gone. I must, again, say how grateful I am for Cloudmark Desktop, an email spam filter that actually works. I had over 300 emails while I was gone, but only about 20 were actually worth reading. Cloudmark sifted all of the spam and...

Technology doesn’t work unless you use it

My family and I are taking a short spring break trip this year and have already run into a travel snafu. After booking our flights at the US Airways web site in January, we did not check again on our itenerary since we already had receipts, seat assignments and all travel information until a few hours before we left for the airport. Upon looking at the US Airways site, it appeared that our connecting flight in Phoenix had...

A Faster computer does not equal faster Internet

Just as Rick mentioned that people often expect the computer to run faster once they have faster Internet, the opposite is also expected. Often people on dial-up or slower DSL ask me once they have a new computer whether their email will go faster or their websites will load quickly. Typically the difference between a new computer and a Windows 98 machine with sufficient RAM will be barely noticeable. It may take longer for...

Faster Internet does not equal faster computer

A common misconception I run across often is that getting a faster Internet connection will make the computer faster. The Internet is just one of many functions a computer performs. Whether you connect via a phone line, DSL, or cable has absolutely NO bearing on how quickly the computer boots up or opens a particular program. A faster Internet connection will allow you to receive large email attachments faster, surf the web...

Alphabetize your Favorites (or Bookmarks)

This question came up a couple of times on the show on Saturday and numerous times recently via email; How do I alphabetize my favorites or bookmarks? Internet Explorer Click Favorites from the menus RIGHT Click on any item in the favorites list Click Sort by Name from the menu Mozilla Firefox Click Bookmarks from the menus RIGHT Click on any item in the bookmarks list Click Sort by Name from the menu That's it! You...

Would you rather have your TV or your computer?

Lately I have had a lot of clients call me in a panic because they are having a computer emergency. These calls are getting more frequent every year. Is there a such thing as a computer emergency? Yes. In fact, I would be willing to wager that most people I work for, if given the choice, would choose to live 24 hours without running water or a fridge than they would without their computer. Having a good computer guy is as...

Can’t read forwarded message attachments in ...

One of our callers today, Jeff, couldn't get forwarded emails to open if they were attachments. We believe this method may work to rectify the situation: Use the following steps to use the Clear Cache button in Outlook: 1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab. 2. Click Advanced Options. 3. In the Advanced Options box, click Custom Forms. 4. In the Custom Forms box, click Manage Forms. 5. In the...

Sorting the Mail – Video Tip

Wouldn't it be nice if you could sort your email by the date it was received or by the name of the sender? If you use Microsoft Outlook Express (or Outlook), Mozilla Thurnderbird, or most other email systems), you can quickly sort all of your mail. AOL finally added this feature for its members just last year. As an added bonus, this tip will work with any computer or operating system.   To sort the mail: Click ONE...

Dial-up users: Are you tired of waiting for email ...

I have been utilizing this tip much more lately as dial-up users get pummeled with email containing pictures that haven't been resized and an endless parade of forward spam with large attachments from friends and family with high speed connections. For every one megabyte of space an attachment contains, it takes 5-8 minutes for a dial-up user to download it. Many joke emails, slide shows or movies being passed around...

Even eBay isn’t get rich quick business

This week there is an eBay seminar going on in our city. The sponsoring company is flooding TV, radio and newspaper with ads for the events. It seems that such seminars come around several times each year. Each time the company presenting the seminar uses specially chosen wording to make people think that eBay has something to do with the event. In reality, eBay only sponsors one series of seminars called eBay University. If...

Getting the Mail Button back in IE7 – Revise...

When you upgrade to IE7 you will notice a total change in the interface. One of the big changes is a lack of menu bar and many of the old buttons. If you are in the habit of clicking on the little envelope in Internet Explorer to get into your email, you will quickly see that the little envelope is gone. Here's how to get it back: 1. Right-click on the bar where the buttons should be 2. Choose Customize Command Bar 3....

Remove or uninstall U3 Software from a flash drive

Many USB flash drives come pre-installed with software called U3. U3 is a small operating system that allows U3 enabled flash drives to run applications (like web browsers, email programs, password managers, and more) straight from the USB flash drive. The advantage is that you can use these applications on any computer with a USB port.  However, if you don't have a need to have these "portable" applications...

Web Appliances revisited

I wrote a number of months ago about the need for a new web appliance. A web appliance is a device that only accesses the Internet. Web TV (now MSN TV) is the only device that sort of falls in this category. What I envision (and wish I had the knowledge to build) is a flat screen monitor with built-in speakers and a cordless bluetooth connection to talk to a mouse, keyboard, and a printer. It would also have a card...

Email Preview Button in Outlook Express – Vi...

This tip evaded me for many years, but now you can benefit from its use. The tip works in any versions of Windows including Windows Vista's Windows Mail. When asked how to delete a message without opening it in Microsoft Outlook Express, I traditionally answered by directing the computer user to the View menu (See Tip #156). This works, but if you want to turn the Preview back on you have to go through the same number of...