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Riding Shotgun with Adam

How to have a phone, answering machine and fax on the same line

So, you have a phone, an answering machine and a fax. You have two lines so that the answering machine doesn't pickup the fax and vice versa. This means that you are likely spending at least $40 per month on phone service.

You haven't switched to broadband because it would cost that much more.

There is an affordable solution. It's called distinctive ring.

Provided your phone company offers the service, it is the solution for many  home businesses and others who need the ability to receive faxes without warning.

Distinctive ring is a $5 service that can be added to your existing phone line. The phone company will give you a new telephone number, or reassign your current fax number. Whenever someone calls that number, the phone will ring differently than it does when they dial your home line.

How to know if you have spyware

If the popups and sudden system slowdown aren’t sufficient indicators, here are two other ways to tell that you have spyware.

1. Tons of toolbars in Internet Explorer

2. More than 10 items in the system tray by the clock

Special thanks to my client who unknowingly contributed material for this video which I recorded with my cell phone.

Congress to decide whether to tax wizards and warlocks

We live in a day of alternate dimensions and parallel worlds. While some people hold jobs, go to school and raise families in reality, they spend part of their days (some more than others) playing computer games called MMORPGs.

It stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. These are games where essentially every character in the game, and there can be thousands, is controlled by an actual person playing the game.

The longer you play theses games such as World Of Warcraft or Everquest, the more property and items you accumulate. Typically these games feature magic, weapons, and even land that you can accumulate. Once you have an item, you are free to sell it or give it to another player in the game. This has lead to a virtual economy.

Should you just get a new computer?

I have seen a lot of power supply failures lately. This seems to happen every summer but I don't keep detailed enough statistics to prove it. I am not sure why it happens either. It could be that people turn off their computers for summer vacation and it is the first time the computer has really been turned off in a long time. This might give things a chance to cool down and become brittle. Maybe it is just a coincidence.

In addition to the power supply failures, I have seen a variety of other problems lately that are typically rare such as hard drive failures, power button failures, and dead printers.

Small details make a big difference

Today I saw two clients who described their situation the same. They each had broadband Internet and could get online with one computer that was wired to the network but not with a wireless.

When I got to each of these locations they were each connected to the wireless network but weren't getting any Internet. The first client was connected to the wrong network, an ad hoc connection to an HP device somewhere.

The second client was much more complicated. Like the first they were able to connect to the wireless network (even the correct wireless network) but not the Internet. It turns out that was just the beginning. They also had a printer that would print just fine from anywhere except from a remote Quickbooks terminal (too geek to explain). They were also trying to setup an new network based time clock.

Microsoft Sideshow to compete with iPhone

This week the tech world was given a nice surprise as Microsoft and many partners announced the SideShow device. The SideShow is a PDA-like device designed to be used with a Vista PC.

While details are still vague and only prototypes have been shown, the SideShow looks like it may prevent many windows users from switching to iPhone.

The SideShow is designed to link up to a computer via Bluetooth and it can be used for chat, email, playing solitaire, media player and perhaps even web browsing and document creation.

I want to be a computer teacher on a cruise ship

I love my job as a computer guy. Especially tutoring and teaching average people (seniors, parents, non-geeks) how too use computers. Everyday I meet interesting people, see new challenges and play with new toys.

Today I was thinking about what could possibly make my job more fun and I had a great idea.

I would love to be a computer guy on a cruise ship. Not to maintain the ship's computers but to teach tourists and help them with their computer problems. Most cruises feature entertainers, exercise classes, theaters and all kinds of ways to stay busy.

Cruise ships also offer wireless Internet access. Tourists bring their laptops, digital cameras and other gadgets along with them. I can't help but think that some of these travelers would love to take a break from the buffet and take a computer or digital photography class.

When to use CDs , DVDs or flash drives

With so many options for backing up today, people often get confused on which method is right for them.

Typically there are three methods for backing up:

1. CD or DVD

2. Flash drive

3. External hard drive

The method you choose should depend on the type of backup you are doing.

CDs hold 700MB (about 300 pictures) while DVDs hold 4,700MB. But the amount of data that they hold is not as important as what you use the disks for. CDs and DVDs are best for archiving data that will likely never change such as pictures, old word processing documents, important tax or financial records, etc. Once you write information to a CD or DVD consider that disk finished and do not try to add more to it.

I am no longer a one-handed man

This is the first post I have written since Monday. I have had my wrist in a splint for the past few days. On Sunday I was on a family bike ride and I thought it would be funny to splash through a big mud puddle beside my kids.

As it turns out puddles filled with irrigation water tend to grow scum and scum tends to be as slippery as ice. First thing I knew I was laying on my back under my bike.

On Monday my wrist was so sore that I had to cancel a few appointments so that I could see the doctor and get some x-rays. My wrist isn't broken, but it hurts a lot.

Over the past few days I have had to work on computers with only one good hand. My left hand. I am right handed.

Easy, safe, fun (and useful) Google Images – Video Tip

Google offers hundreds of features and most of them go unused by the average computer user.

Google Images is one of the coolest features that the monster search site has to offer. Google Images allows you to search the web for graphics or pictures related to any search topic.

It's so easy to use:

1. Visit Images.Google.com

2. Type in a word or phrase that you want to search for

3. Hit ENTER key on your keyboard

4. The website where the image is found will load but you can get directly to the image itself by clicking on the thumbnail at the top of the page.