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Quickly sort your start menu items – VIDEO TIP

Finding the right program in your Start menu can be difficult if the items are all out of order. Here's how to sort them alphabetically.

1. Click Start -> (All) Programs

2. Right-click on any item in the Programs area

3. Click Sort By Name

If you need any more help with it, just watch this quick little video tip.

Another post from Ubuntu

I have been so busy lately, that I haven't had much of a chance to play around with my Ubuntu Linux (alternative to Windows) machine. Last night, I updated to the latest version of Ubuntu Linux 7.04 for free. Compare that to the minimum of $179 you would pay for the basic version of Vista. I was motivated to do the update not only because I promised I would learn more about Linux, but also because Dell released a story yesterday announcing their plans to sell Linux laptops and desktops computer starting this summer. It seems that Microsoft keeps getting hit day-after-day. Where will they be in 5 years? They certainly don't have the stature today that they had 5 years ago.

512mb is not enough

512mb of RAM is not enough for Windows Vista…any flavor. Vista has been out almost three months now, and I have setup almost a dozen Vista machines. Thankfully, they are rolling out slowly. All the machines I setup, until today, came with 1 GB (1024mb) or 2GB of RAM. And although not blazing, the computer's ran at an acceptable speed.

I just finished spending nearly 2.5 hours setting up a laptop with Vista Basic and only 512mb of RAM. It was painful. Normally, I can clean all unwanted and trial software (crapware) from a new computer, install and update AVG Antivirus, optimize the startup and Internet settings, shut off unnecessary special effects, setup email and test both email and the Internet all in under 1.5 hours. This little laptop required extraordinary wait times to get anything installed or uninstalled. Very frustrating.

Is this a test?

Today I had an appointment that spanned almost every area of what I do on a daily basis. The appointment lasted roughly three hours.

In that time I…

Helped setup a new iMac. She is making the switch from Windows and wanted some of the features that she was used to in her PC. I set her computer to ask for her password whenever it was turned on or came out of sleep mode so her kids couldn't get online without her permission. I also setup a gmail account and a POP3 email program that worked like Outlook Express.

  • Consulted her on ways of getting better range from her wireless network.
  • Tuned up her kids' computer and removed lots of

Windows Vista continues to tank…

Tedd, our computer bargain guru, ran across this article today at MSNBC.com and forwarded it to me. Basically, it concretley demonstrates the ongoing failure and low adoption rate of Windows Vista. Dell, due to lackluster Vista sales and monster customer demand, will give consumers a choice between XP and Vista on many of their machines.

Choose XP.

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 back.

Since this cartoon was found on a random site (a site that shows random pictures from all over the web) I don't have the authors name or the original site's address. I will be happy to post it and link to it if anyone finds it. 

Windows Vista makes networking maddening

I setup a new Windows Vista machine yesterday on a network with two Windows XP systems. My client wanted Vista to be the main computer that shared files and printers with the other two computers. It only took me 45 minutes to figure out how to set it all up. In Windows XP I can setup a network in less than 15 minutes – probably less than 10.

One of the first complaints I had early on with Windows XP was that it was loaded with too many wizards. This only bothered me until I started using the wizards. Now I depend on them.

A wizard is a feature that leads you step-by-step through the process of a complicated task such as setting up a network or burning to a CD. The Windows XP wizards turned out to be one of its biggest strengths. They made it easy for a friend, family member, or tech support person to walk you through setting things up.

Flower 1997-2007

FlowerToday, although I worked all day, technology took a back seat for me. Our female pygmy goat, Flower, died after a short illness. I discovered her this morning in her little barn. We knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer, but after the events in Virginia yesterday and day after day of headlines with the words murder, killings, dead, etc, I broke down when I found our little pet goat.

Listening to the news and reading the papers, I grew even more sad because of the sensational, irrational, and knee-jerk type society we have become. It doesn't matter if someone is white, black, purple, green, or polka dot or whether they are Catholic, Muslim, agnostic, or Methodist or whether they were born in Madagascar, Japan, Iceland, or North Dakota or if their political beliefs are left, right, circular, up or down, I truly believe that we all have a few simple goals in life: health, happiness, and the right to live an uncomplicated life.

Adjust font size in Firefox – Video Tip

I had a client today with a few vision problems. The small fonts and certain colors were difficult for him to see.

Hold CTRL+(+ key) to increase font size adn hold CTRL+(- key) to decrease the font size. However, this change is only temporary.

To make more permanent changes to the font size go into Tools->Options and select the Content tab. You can make changes on that main screen and under the Advanced button.

Oh heck – just watch the video below (click "read more if the video isn't already showing), it makes more sense that way.

Using Picasa to make a CD of your favorite pictures – Video Tip

Lately I have had several people ask me how to make a CD from only certain pictures from several folders. Here is a short video explaining how it's done.

The background music came out pretty bad, but the rest of the video should run OK. (click "read more if the video isn't already showing)