Adobe Reader 9 update – DON’T DO IT!

Adobe released version 9 of their PDF (Portable Document Format) Reader program. Once the king and almost sole PDF reader on the market, it, like so many other mainstream programs, has become bloated beyond recognition. This software bloat slows down the performance of even the fastest computers, and for this reason, I firmly stand against software bloat. I added Adobe Reader to my do not use list almost two years ago....

Great digital photography debate topics

Technology is no different than politics in that there are a variety of topics that people have opinions on. While you may not know much about these topics now, what you know about them can have a great impact on knowing who to listen to when it comes to learning more about digital photography and related topics. PC vs. Mac: The Mac people will tell you that Macs are better for graphics, easier to use more stable. PC...

Web mail…remember web mail

Believe it or not, there are still folks out there using dial-up Internet. As email attachments grow in size with full-size pictures and videos, even email can be difficult for dial-up users. Instead of battling slow connections and waiting for dozens (or hundreds) of emails to download, remember that all email services have a web based component. Go to your email providers web site, and look for a Login orWeb Mail option....

Bresnan Email Woes

Although this tip targets one particular Internet provider, ANY computer user will benefit from the advice I give at the end of the article. In Western Colorado, a company called Bresnan provides a large swath of the cable services…including cable Internet. Overall, I have no problems with the Bresnan service. They run an extremely speedy and pretty stable Internet connection. However, my beef with the service has...

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...

Yelp – Real world reviews

On my most recent travels, I discovered yet another great travel web site that I will be using every time I travel. The site’s name is Yelp. Yelp bills themselves as a site of Real People. Real Reviews. Yelp reviewers review everything from restaurants to schools to religious organizations. As their slogan describes, anyone can write a review about any service. I think the service works so well because it works like...

Surf faster with Firefox Custom Keywords – V...

You already know that I highly recommend the Mozilla Firefox web browser for fast and safe Internet surfing. This week, I discovered a couple of new techniques to use with Firefox that allow you to visit your most used sites by typing just a letter or two. And if that isn’t cool enough already, you can also use this technique to customize your searches and make them faster than ever as well. Firefox call these...

Vacation from technology

I just disembarked from a 7 day cruise to Alaska with my family. The scenery was fantastic, the weather was unbelievable, the food was edible, but the availability of technology was virtually absent. The cruise line brochure mentioned that Internet would be available online, but it didn’t say that it would be a $1.00 per minute! And it didn’t mention that an old-fashioned dial-up connection would be faster than...

Widescreen and the intel 8286g graphics chip ̵...

I have faced this problem several times now. I have read every post on the Internet and there are no fixes. The Intel 85865g integrated graphics chip does not support wide screen resolutions. There is no update to the drivers, there is not working hack and there is no hope. The only solution is to either buy a standard (square) monitor or a different graphics card. Any graphics card on the shelf will handle widescreen...

“If it is free, it must not be any good.R...

This statement was uttered by an imbecile. A customer of mine told me last week that he heard this quote from a tech person from some company after a discussion of AVG Free. The week before this customer’s computer was almost crippling slow primarily because it had one of the newer versions of Norton Internet Security installed. After taking Norton off the system (approximately 20-25 minutes to do so) and adding AVG,...

How to setup Mozy Online Backup – Video Tip

Your best defense against computer problems is a solid backup strategy. If you search our site for backup, you will find many articles relating to this important topic. However, in the past year or so, IF you have a high speed Internet connection, another compelling backup option has emerged. That option is online backup. Backing your data up automatically to a server on the Internet can be affordable, safe, and painless. In...

Using the power of time, people and the Internet

I Stumbled on this extremely interesting video the other day answering the questions, “How do people find the time?” The speaker explains how many hours are spent watching TV and how just carving 10% of that time can harness tremendous amounts of brain power to work together on the web. The more I thought about the video, the more I was amazed so I wanted to share it with you. Click here to watch the video and...

The $399 Power Computer

Last week, I was charged with finding a computer for a customer who only wanted it for Internet, email, and word processing. He didn’t want to add any games, extra programs, or anything else to it. My first thought, as I was listening to his needs, was Ubuntu. One other request was not to break the bank on cost. Lastly, he told me that he would be hooked up to a high speed cable Internet service. Upon talking a little...

CNET Web 2.0 Awards

Get used to me writing more articles about Web 2.0 applications…applications that run in your web browser. I’ve written many already, but today I’m writing about the  CNET people’s choice awards for best Web 2.0 applications in ten categories ranging from productivity to entertainment. This is CNET’s second year compiling the awards. This year almost 2 million votes were cast for over 300...

PayPal Agrees

Last week I wrote a tip called 7 Habits of highly inefficient Internet Users.   The very first habit I wrote about was the use of old browsers. Literally, the next day PayPal (the leading online payment source for eBay and person-to-person payments) announced that it would stop supporting old browsers and users who did not upgrade to more modern and safer browsers would not be able to use the service. This will not...