That's impossible! Sometimes that's the response one gets from tech support, but a little investigation and evidence will usually bring the tech support person around to seeing the problem. (No, it shouldn't be this way.)
If (MS or Apple) made elevators: The look and feel would be different and you might not enjoy your ride experience as much as you do today.
Nerdly News: Two security holes -- Linux has a large security problem to deal with and Microsoft has another.
HEY! Be careful out there. Sgt. Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues used to say that. Today is applies to anyone who has a computer that's attached to the Internet. And if you think it doesn't apply to you because you use a dial-up connection, you're wrong. Very wrong.
Word X: Could it be that the best version of Microsoft Word is the one that runs on a Mac? If you own a Mac and you need a word processor, Microsoft Word is certainly worth a look.
Switching carriers: You can now dump your current cell phone provider and give another company a try. Of course, you might be stuck with cancellation fees and the like, but you can keep your current number. If .... Yes, there are a few "ifs".
Nerdly News: A "researcher" in China says he has found 7 more security problems with Microsoft Internet Explorer. And chip makers have seen the largest jump in sales since early 2002.
How to tickle your Palm: If you have a Palm organizer, you probably like what it does, but maybe you wish it could do more. Well, it can. From keeping track of tabular data to playing games, Handmark had a delightful variety of products for you.
What's up with Microsoft Office 2003? I haven't yet had time to give the entire suite of applications more than a cursory look, but I have spent a little time with Word. It just keeps getting better. But "better" comes with a price tag.
Nerdly News: In Nerdly News, we'll talk about the Apple "super computer" and take a look at some restructuring at Adobe.
Go, Daddy! Once you had no choice if you wanted to register a domain name. Now you do and there's a good reason (other than price) why you might want to give GoDaddy a chance.
Napster vs. Itunes: Who wins? Which one has the better service for PC users? As far as I'm concerned, NEITHER! I can't get Itunes to work right with my PC and Napster killed my CD/DVD burner's software.
Nerdly News: This is amazing! Both AOL and Microsoft managed to find a clue the same week. Orbitz users are receiving spam to addresses they gave Orbitz, but the company doesn't know why. Oh, and Microsoft says the contract employee who published a picture of G5 Macs on Microsoft's loading dock is no longer welcome at the company.
WHAT "Good Old Days?" These ARE the good old days as far as I'm concerned. I just bought a copy of the ENTIRE Encyclopædia Britannica on a single DVD for just $25 and copied the entire 4.1GB contents to my hard drive so that I don't need to keep the DVD in the drive. The DVD and the disk drive to store it on and the reader to read it combined cost far less than the books did 30 years ago. And that's just the beginning!
OS X 10.3 (Panther) Apple started selling Panther, the latest version of its operating system Friday evening. A Unix-based operating system combined with one of the most powerful desktop systems in the world is putting Apple in an odd position: Even the PC geeks are saying nice things about the company.
In Nerdly News ... ZoneLabs has teamed up with an anti-spam company. Trouble is, the application runs only on PCs and then only if you're running Outlook. And have you heard about Apple's new operating system? (I hope so, because I just mentioned it a few lines back!) It's still not enough to drag people away from their PCs. Yet. But, what if ...?
The sludge in your mailbox? I'd like to tell you that I've found the final solution to the spam problem. I'd LIKE to tell you that, but I can't. There's not likely to be a final solution, but you can combine several tools with a little time and effort to cut your spam load dramatically.
Burning Down the House: Last month, you heard an interview with Eliot Van Buskirk, author of a book all about PCs and audio. We'll continue our conversation with him this week and examine alternatives to the MP3 format.
In Nerdly News ... Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote that ICANN threatened to sue VeriSign and that forced VeriSign to pull the plug (at least temporarily) on what many see as yet another questionable action by the registrar that came from the government and acts like it's still part of the government. Well, this week VeriSign has announced that it will sell the Network Solutions division. Also -- have you run WindowsUpdate this week? You should. I ran the update from a slow (21.6Kbps) line on my notebook computer in Tucson. That's how important I consider the updates to be.
Too-easy home networking: NetGear just sent me 3 powerine networking "bridge" devices and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to send them some money. If you've been unwilling to run CAT5 cable all over the house and you've been dissatisfied with WiFi's shortcomings, powerline networking is is worth trying.
Which CDs to buy: You can buy recordable CDs for 30 cents or 50 cents, recordable DVDs for $1 or $3. Is there a good reason to pay more than you have to?
ICANN threatens to sue VeriSign: And VeriSign pulls the plug (at least temporarily) on what many see as yet another questionable action by the registrar that came from the government and acts like it's stil part of the government.
CCS computer fix-up: Have an old computer you want to add memory to? Or a new disk drive? Or you're buying a new computer and want to put Linux on your old one to see what Linux is all about? The Columbus Computer Society has a deal for you!
New Tricks from Acrobat: Adobe's versatile Acrobat application has a couple of new tricks. If you're a graphics professional, you'll want version 6 right away. And even if you never make PDF files, you should head over to Adobe's website to pick up the free version 6 reader.
Need help with those tricks? Because software rarely comes with a manual these days, Osborne offers "How to Do Everything with Adobe Acrobat 6.0" by Doug Sahlin. If you're new to Acrobat or you just want to master the new features fast, you'll like it.
Keyspan's "read anything" reader: If you have more than one device that uses removable digital media (SmartMedia, CompatcFlash, SecureDigital, MMC, Memory Stick, or even MicroDrive), Keyspan has the "7-way Media Reader" that handles everything with ease.
Nerdly News: After days of speculation about when the announcement would be made, Kodak announced the end of the line for slide projectors. And the Computer and Communications Industry Association has issued a report that calls Microsoft Windows a "threat to national security."
TechX NY looks a little tired this year: With CeBit getting the June date this year, the weak economy, and the proximity of Comdex, TechX NY in September was as close to a bust as I've ever seen. Far too many big vendors were absent and the show's major emphasis on outsourcing didn't help.
Burn down the house? BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is the name of Eliot Van Buskirk's new book about how to record, convert, copy, and manage music on a PC or Mac. We'll talk about legality and functionality.
Sennheiser "cans": It's almost insulting to call the Sennheiser HD570 headphones "cans", but that's what they're called in this biz. Headphone technology has changed a lot in 40 years and superb headphones no longer need to weigh 2 pounds.
Nerdly News: I've finally seen one of the "security messages" that claims to be from Microsoft but is really an attack on your computer. We'll disassemble it. While in NYC, I had the opportunity to try T-Mobile's $6/hour Internet service at a coffee shop. (I'll also tell you about a cool place to stay in Harlem.) And if your PDA is stolen, it can now call for help.
Good, basic word processor: If you need the advanced features of Word or WordPerfect, the OpenOffice Suite isn't for you. But if all you need is a basic word processor and cost is a critical factor, this could be what you need.
All the latest hardware and software: The line is forming at the left for those who are willing to pay $3000+ for a Pentium 200MHz screamer with a whopping 32MB of RAM and an unbelievably huge 3GB disk drive. While there's nobody in line now, there were lots of people in that line in 1996.
Nerdly News: Dreamweaver MX 2004 ships and it's a beauty. I ran into some rough edges during testing, but most of those have been filed down for the finished product. China may finally be getting the message on spam. And of course there's another important security message from Microsoft.
Probably not, but the Corel Wordperfect suite is a winner if you're already a Wordperfect user and may be worth a look if you buy a computer that has the applications already installed.
The incredible shrinking Apple: Apple has maybe 5% of the desktop computer market. Microsoft has about 94% and Linux has 1% at best. Apple is looking for a "killer app" that will convince people to buy Apple computers. Could that "killer app" be security?
In Nerdly News, we take a look at the latest version of my favorite e-mail application, The Bat. And we glance at the most recent (5 just this WEEK) security warnings from Microsoft.
Macromedia redecorates its suite: Macromedia Dreamweaver is the tool serious website designers use. Add Fireworks and Flash to get the MX suite, wait a year, and see what Macromedia's programmers have done! Macromedia Studio MX 2004 was announced this week. It will ship later this month and I've been playing with the beta version.
It's time to get serious about security: It doesn't matter whether the threat is from overseas or from some 18-year-old kid who's too dumb to even cover his tracks (making it possible for the FBI to arrest him and boast about "new technology") -- if something destroys all the data on your computer, it's gone. Protect yourself NOW.
Elementary, my dear Photoshop: Photoshop 7 is a wonderful program. It's also extremely complex and quite expensive. Adobe has a better idea for those of us who just want to touch up our photographs. Photoshop Elements.
In Nerdly News ... The FBI captures a worm kid and IBM recalls monitors that catch fire.
Save $50 & learn how to use PowerPoint: Rick Altman has an October program in Tucson on how to make PowerPoint sing and dance. He's invited some of the best known power users to teach (and me, too). Hear an interview with Rick and learn how you can save $50 on registration.
A little Q and A: I've gathered some recent questions that people have sent in a moment of folly. Joe and I will talk about those -- and a little feedback following my muttering about the new Mac that calls Blinnhouse home.
Nerdly News: Microsoft has revised some recent security bulletins, so you may need more patches. Also, a federal official says legislation *won't* be effective against spam.
Opera wails: It's still not a REPLACEMENT for Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator or even Mozilla, but Opera 7 has some outstanding features that have converted me to a fan.
What's the sound of one Mac crashing? The new G4 dual processor Mac that arrived a couple of weeks ago did nothing but crash. I reinstalled the OS, swapped out memory, and finally took it to the Apple store. Following a brain transplant, it seems to be happy.
Was your computer MS Blasted? If you've been off the planet for the past week or so, you may not have heard of "MS Blast" the latest worm. Your computer needs the latest security update and you may have to remove the worm from your computer.
Nerdly News: Microsoft maybe has finally gotten some of the message. Instead of just talking about improved security, the company may eventually try to do something about it. But there are a lot of non-secure Windows computers out there. What about them?
Domain registrars: I started avoiding Network Solutions (now part of Verisign) as soon as I had a choice. My primary registrar for several years has lately initiated some annoying practices. Now I've found somebody better.
"Bogus" message from Microsoft: For three weeks running, we had reports about security "issues" with Microsoft products and about how Internet creeps might try to lure you to a rogue website. When I received a message this week that claimed to be from Microsoft but wasn't and that contained links that claimed to go to Microsoft but didn't, I was sure I had received one of those lures. On the contrary -- some idiot at Microsoft OUTSOURCED a SECURITY MESSAGE that contained just about every trick that they warn you to watch out for.
A real bogus message not from Earthlink: A friend sent me a copy of a message she had received from someone who purported to be "Earthlink.COM" (Earthlink is a NET, not a COM). She didn't fall for it and neither should you.
Want a personal screensaver? Make your own screensaver. A $15 program lets you make a variety of screen savers. And if you'd like a Technology Corner screensaver, you can choose from 7 that I made in about 15 minutes.
Nerdly News: We'll talk briefly about WiFi. And if you think we'll get to this at all given the huge amount of other topics this week, please send me your credit card number, billing address, PIN, security code, ....
The state of the Mac: I've been planning to do a mainly Mac show for a while and now that Joe's back, this seemed like the perfect time. There's also the fact that I've just added a new G4 dual processor Mac (and so far I've had to reinstall the operating system only once). What does Apple need to get more than a 10 to 15% market share?
Stuff all your type into a Suitcase: Suitcase is THE typeface manager on the Mac. A look at some of the new features in the version for OS X suggests that it will continue to be THE typeface manager on the Mac for a long time.
Identity theft: On Thursday, I sent out a warning about an identity theft operation. By Friday afternoon, the US-based website had been shut down, but the main site in Korea continued to run. As of Saturday morning, it had been shut down, too. How many people fell for this?
Nerdly News: How would you like a disposable digital camera? You can get one. But why? And there are dire warnings of a "generalized" Internet-based attack.
July 27, 2003
Three weeks; 3 bugs: Security is this week's top story. Microsoft has had a bad 3 weeks when it comes to finding serious problems. If you didn't obtain the security patch from Microsoft last week and you're running ANY version of Windows, go immediately to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and get the patch. (There's another patch this week, but it's not as serious a bug.)
Faster phones: If you bought in to the 3G hype about cellular phones last year, there's a good chance you were disappointed by the speed. The good news is that fa$ter phone$ will make the experience more enjoyable, and more co$tly.
MacWorld: Someday I'll go: Once again this year, I did not get to MacWorld in New York City. It's clearly a smaller show than TechX NY (September this year) but someday I'll make time to go.
Nerdly News: A Chinese group has released the code needed to exploit an EXTREMELY SERIOUS WINDOWS BUG that Microsoft announced nearly 2 weeks ago. Why have the IT departments at some large corporations FAILED TO DOWNLOAD THE PATCH? We'll also take a quick look at the brouhaha involving SCO and IBM over Linux.
Totally Tasteless Photoshop Elements: This book is a hoot and you might even learn something from the author, stand-up comedian Wally Wang. There has never been a computer book like this one and it will offend some folks. But if you have a sense of humor and a sense of discovery, you'll probably like it.
More television products from Adaptec: Continuing to expand its line of products for those who want to edit home videos and put the images on CD or DVD, Adaptec now has an option that lets you turn your computer into a digital video recorder. Tivo without Tivo?
Ticking time bomb in your computer: Microsoft has announced a serious security bug. (Yeah, I said that last week, too; this week's bug is even worse.)
Nerdly News: We have a story about another security problem (this one with Cisco routers) and the fix that's causing a few minor problems. Also, Apple's sales are up, but profits are down.
A better Windows explorer than Windows Explorer: V-Com's PowerDesk program adds a range of features that Microsoft forgot about. This is a utility program that anyone who's a "power user" will appreciate.
More on digital photography: We weren't able to get everything in 2 weeks ago when we talked about this subject, so consider this section a summer re-run in print but new stuff on the air.
Congress clueless (on spam): Two competing bills that claim to fight spam are being debated in the House. Neither is worth the paper it will eventually be written on. These guys just don't understand the problem.
Nerdly News: Microsoft finds a serious problem and you'll want to download the latest security patches. Also, there's a new version of Zone Alarm from Zone Labs.
Digital photography: We'll spend the entire hour (less what we have to allow for commercials, news, sports, and other stuff) talking about digital photography. If you haven't gone digital yet, this could be the year you make the move.
Nerdly News: Windows Media Player has a small security problem. See the Microsoft website for a way to close it. And Apple has a new faster Mac on store shelves.
Making your computer sound better: Klipsch loaned me a Promedia 5.1 Personal Audio System and -- if ears could smile -- mine would be grinning from ear to ear. Ah ... well, you get the idea.
Sic transit CorelWORLD? This year's CorelWORLD was billed as the "last" CorelWORLD. Now program organizer Rick Altman says the 14-year-old series might continue depending on what happens to Corel. The future looks better than it did a few months ago.
Nerdly News: A common fraud technique gets another run on the Internet and the battle between PeopleSoft and Oracle heats up.
CorelWORLD: Computer killer? It seems that every time I come to CorelWORLD, something bad happens to my computer. Having to replace too-young-to-die computers makes attending this conference an expensive undertaking, even if I am paid for attending.
Watch out for spies at Blue Mountain: Remember when Blue Mountain was owned by a couple? I was delighted when they sold the company, but knew it would change and probably not for the better. Now that American Greetings owns Blue Mountain, you pay an annual fee to use the service, there aren't many new cards, their privacy policy leaves a lot to be desired, and now they're imposing pop-up ads even on those who pay for the premium service!
Nikon D100 preview: Nikon has loaned me a D100 digital SLR for use at CorelWORLD and for review on Technology Corner. Short story: I do not want to send it back!
Nerdly News: Microsoft moves to block "Web bugs", the little image files that allow senders to know if you opened their e-mail. And if you're out of disk space, how about an extra 3000 GB.
Help for digital photos: If you could buy a program for $45 to manage digital photos on your camera, help you share photos with others, make slide shows, improve the exposure and contrast, fix bad color balance, put frames or borders around photos, add captions, and even make you look thinner (really!) would you buy it?
Is Linux a threat to Microsoft? Steve Ballmer thinks it is and he's been explaining why to the company's 54,000 employees.
How do copyright laws apply in the Internet age? A conference is scheduled next week in Washington to talk about it. We'll take a look at some of the topics.
Nerdly News: Webshots, the desktop wallpaper company is going on to newer and smaller things. And with Palm planning to gobble up Handspring, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
What an "interesting" week. Actually it was less than 60 hours, but it seemed like months. The TC website disappeared about 11 Wednesday morning. I had no @blinn.com e-mail. It started with an explosion that led to a fire. And that was just the start. As I said, an "interesting" week. As of Friday, we were back.
Who will win: Panther or longhorn? Microsoft and Apple are in an operating system war. Microsoft has continued to hold the lead even with Apple's OS X, but Apple will have a new OS within the month and it'll be 2005 before Microsoft answers.
Kodak has acquired Applied Science Fiction. This looks like a marriage made in Rochester. With luck, Kodak will be able to figure out what to do with ASF.
Nerdly News: Iomega has a new disk drive. It's invisible. And Earthlink has officially lauched its spam blocker software.
The latest worm is called Palyh. It may offer you a screen saver from Microsoft. It may offer "details", approval, or a "password". Whatever it offers will be "in the attachment" and the attachment will install a worm on your computer.
Spam from Symantec? You may think so, but all those offers for huge discounts on Symantec products are the work of thieves. You'd be wise to stay away.
FeaturePrice: Last year my website was briefly hosted by FeaturePrice.com and for the first couple of months, the service was outstanding. Then something bad happened. I've heard from one of the former owners with an explanation.
Nerdly News: A new version of WinZip is coming and, like all previous WinZip upgrades, this one is FREE if you own any registered version of the software. And we'll take a quick look at a travel service that offers charter flights, cruises, and escorted vacations.
Is the right computer a PC or a Mac? Or something else? These questions can lead to pointless arguments. If you're in the market for a new computer and you've narrowed it down to Mac or PC, a surprising website will give you straight answers.
Faster! Faster! The original IBM PC ran at 4.77 MHz. How long will it be until either Intel or AMD hits 4.77 GHz? When that happens, the resulting computer won't be just 1000 times faster than the old PCs. Wider data paths and faster components have doubtless already pushed throughput far beyond 1000 times what the original machines could deliver.
Backup is like flossing your teeth. You know it's a good idea. You know you should be doing it. You know you'll pay for your negligence. But you don't do it. There's a backup option that's the equivalent of having teeth that floss themselves.
Nerdly News: Dell's profits are up, Intel hopes a lot of old computers will be replaced this year, and several state attorneys general have filed suit against a business they claim uses crooked websites to make your phone place $1000 long distance calls.
E-mail -- Still using Outlook? If so, why? There are other options out there that offer security (something Microsoft hasn't quite managed to do yet). If you remember Calypso, it's still available (for free) and there's a new application coming soon.
Too many DVD formats: Microsoft says it'll support all the "major" formats. Is that enough?
A couple of follow-ups: I mentioned free money from AOL last week. This week I cancelled the "free money" account. At least I think I did. We'll see if it works. • Apple's download music service is off and running. Response has been good so far. Now it they'll just create a version for those of us who use PCs.
Nerdly News: Remember George Morrow? Probably not, but he changed your life. • Earthlink wins one in court, but then is sued. It's all about spam.
THIS IS OUR SPECIAL STAR WARS PROGRAM: MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU.
More magic from Chapura: In about one month Chapura will be releasing the follow-on product to Key Contacts. Key Suite will do for the other Outlook applications on the Palm what Key Contacts did for the address book.
Yes, I actually bought a computer: "If you have a problem that you can solve by throwing money at it, you don't have a problem." That's folk wisdom from somewhere. I threw some money at a computer problem and -- instead of building a new computer -- I bought one.
Heller's spirit lives at Network Solutions: There's a good reason why I use Register.com instead of Network Solutions for domain registrations. Register.com has its own quirks and annoyances, but at least the company never sends me a message demanding that I update my information for a domain and then not know what domain they're referring to. That happened with Network Solutions this month. Honest.
Nerdly News: AOL has a plan to protect you from viruses and worms for a fee as the company looks for a way to make money. But AOL gave me $10 last week to sign up for something I'll never use. And it looks like Apple may have the real solution to the question of how to download music. There's just one catch ....
To kill a mocking ad: You know about the pop-up ads that make some websites all but unreadable. But have you seen the Windows Messenger pop-up ads that can hit anytime you're connected to the Internet -- even if you don't have a browser or e-mail program open? This isn't an "instant messenger" service. It can be ugly.
$1700 telephone bills? Wired magazine suggests that we're going that way and their logic seems to be reasonably sound.
Freebies! The Technology Corner weekly (weakly?) contest: I think I've lined up some prizes and we're going to see what you think about a little contest that we'll throw in sometime during the hour. You'll have to answer a question right to win the prize, so make sure you have a bunch of geeky reference materials at hand for the show. (So far we have enough prizes lined up for the contest to last exactly 1 week.)
Nerdly News: This has been a week of computer tinkering (bad disk in my primary computer, crashed operating system in daughter Kaydee's computer, and trouble with the notebooks computer). That's not the news. That's the excuse for why there's nothing here, but I'll have something for you by air time!
Near-disaster averted: After the big event, Kaydee told me that she was having a problem downloading some pictures from her sister's wedding. The SmartMedia card had gone dumb and was claiming not to have anything on it. It was lying.
Two computers, one monitor: I've been using a large KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch from one of the better known manufacturers. It allows me to use two computers with one set of peripherals. But it's also been driving me crazy. I replaced it with a smaller, cheaper device and now I'm happy.
LEDing the way: The future of lighting is the LED. We're already seeing LEDs in traffic signals and on signs. Next we'll find them in offices and -- by the end of this decade -- in our homes.
Nerdly News: Intel says it's just a little bug, but it's big enough to stop shipments of their fast new Canterwood processors. GoodbyeSpam comtinues to perform well -- I have another (and maybe the last) status report.
Time on your hands: Those who bill for their time need a time-billing application. This week, I'll take a look at Timeslips -- at 17 years old, one of the oldest such applications and still the best.
Browser craziness: Occasionally I try to figure out the state of browsers and the state of the browser speech is still confused. Things are getting better, but I'm still losing hair.
Digital photography: If you've been on another planet for the past couple of years, you may not know that one of the hottest topics on this planet is digital photography. I'll point out a couple of additional road signs.
Nerdly News: Sales are up. Sales are down. Depending on where you look, you will clearly see that times are good, or they're not. And the SARS virus that affects humans is having an effect on computers.
CRASH! Computer fall down & go BOOM! This time I didn't even get a blue screen. It was a black screen, which is even worse. When the Registry is damaged, Windows usually must be reinstalled. NT, Windows 2000, and now XP offer ways to recover most of the time, and that's good because I didn't have time for a computer disaster.
Alien Skin updates Xenofex: Alien Skin adds several new features and updates others in this set of filters for Photoshop-compatible applications. As usual, I had entirely too much fun playing with them.
The Technology Corner family expands with a wedding and a new son-in law. Yes, there are pictures.\
Nerdly News notes that Intuit is facing a class-action suit and talks about some tough new discs.
WiFi at the gate: You can already visit several places in town, sit down with a cup of coffee, and get on the Internet with your wireless-enabled notebook computer. Next it'll be happening at McDonald's.
Don't tell XXXX I showed you this: I can't yet tell you who, but one of the major graphic filter manufacturers is about to release a new product. They didn't tell me that I can't show you a sample, though.
CD writers that rip when you RIP: You can now write an 80-minute CD in 2 minutes. That's how fast some of today's CD burners are. If you want to write that fast, you'd better have a fast computer and some good discs. And even then you might want to use a slower speed.
Nerdly News: The fight against spam continues. So far, it seems that I'm winning the battle (with more than a little help from GoodbyeSpam. Also, Microsoft has finally admitted what some users have known since last year: Service pack 1 for Windows XP can slow the operating system to a crawl.
Links -- useful and useless, intelligent and stupid, fun and boring: Every now and then (usually when I can't think of anything else or some other report that was supposed to be ready isn't ready) we take a look at various links that you might want to use. Joe and I will be doing that this week.
Follow-ups: Seems the story I gave you last week about EarthLink heeded a little more information. The telephone deal might be a good one for you, but the cost is a lot higher than what I thought it was. Also, after 13 days, Jfax finally fixed the problem I reported.
Nerdly News: Microsoft has another fix for another security bug. This bug is one that affected some US Army websites. And -- when you think of Al Gore, do you think of Apple? Maybe you should.
Word or Wordperfect? Both will have new versions out this summer or fall. Should you upgrade and, if to, to which?
Macromedia Studio MX Plus: Macromedia has just released Macromedia Studio MX Plus with Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, HomeSite, and FreeHand. There isn't time to talk about all the pieces in depth, but I'll scratch the surface.
GoodbyeSpam update: I have an update for you on GoodbyeSpam. I've requested two improvements and both have been implemented. The amount of spam I receive is now near zero and it looks like GoodbyeSpam is the best anti-spam tool I've found.
Nerdly News
HP profits are up, ABC launches a new on-line service, and EarthLink lauches a combined phone/Internet service.
Palm-powered PowerPoint presentations: If you've ever wished you could walk into a meeting, take out your Palm-type organizer, plug it in to a projector, and run a PowerPoint presentation, I have good news for you: You can.
"I'm from Microsoft and I'm here to help you." I wish that Microsoft, HP, and others would stop trying to make my life "easier". It invariably has the opposite effect.
Dopey business practices: Affixing my "curmudgeon" hat firmly to my head, I ask, "Are all dot-coms run by idiots or does it just seem that way?" Probably not, but my experience with J2 (the on-line fax people) this week left me wondering.
Nerdly News has a report on where Internet use is growing the fastest and we look at the old question: Word or Wordperfect.
I want my maibox back! Spam is out of control. I do a fairly good job of protecting my e-mail addresses, but even protected addresses can fall into the hands of spammers. When that has happened in the past, there’s been only one solution: stop using the address, create a new address, and notify everyone who should have the address. Now there's something new and it seems to work.
TurboTax - a late report: There's been a lot of talk about TurboTax as "spyware" or about TurboTax as a CD/RW killer. That's nonsense, but Intuit did do some things this year that the company says won't be repeated.
Nerdly News: We'll look to the future to see if a Chinese computer is in your future. Many components are already made in China, but a state-supported company wants to go a step further.
Also, the latest worm (Lovegate) threatens to expose your computer's hard drive to the writer of the worm, which also carries along a trojan horse for your amusement.
Pictures by e-mail: Anybody with a camera and an e-mail account has probably wanted to create an e-mail with photographs in it. Depending on what e-mail application you use, the task might be easy or difficult and the results might be successful. Or not. More times than often it was "or not." Now there's help.
A spammer found my wtvn@blinn.com and spammer are like cockroaches (in every way I can think of). I'm moving to a new address and further protecting my address. I'll explain how.
E-ticketing helps airlines and their passengers. Northwest has announced a new partnership that makes e-ticketing even easier and says that nearly 90% of its passengers use electronic tickets.
Nerdly News: Broadband networks are now installed in 10% of US homes -- a 25% increase from last year. Microsoft has gobbled up Connectix and the result was a lot of executive babble-speak.
Photoshop puzzles me! But I now have a 20+ hour course on DVDs that will walk me through all the details. Already I feel like I'm beginning to figure out how the program works, and I've just barely scratched the surface. (Note: Scratching the surface is not a good thing to do with a DVD.)
Would you like this computer? It's about the size of a (large) deck of cards, weighs about 9 ounces, and runs Windows XP Professional. The built-in screen is a VGA color LCD touchscreen, but you can attach the computer to a standard keyboard and monitor. Only trouble: You can't have it. (Yet.)
Nerdly News: Congress has not welcomed warmly the Pentagon's "Total Information Awareness" program. This may be a good thing. Yahoo announced details this week to plans that it hopes will make it a profitable company.
Another week, another threat: Last week, I told you how good Opera 7 is and -- almost immediately -- an Israeli security expert pointed out several huge security holes. Unlike some companies that take months to fix problems, Opera took care of the reported security holes in 5 days.
Video? Audio? Photos? You can put them all on the same DVD or even on a CD if you have the right equipment and some good luck. But what do you do with old analog video? You convert it. Adaptec has 3 solutions, one of which is probably the one you need.
RoboMagic strikes again: The company doesn't make a lot of products and the products aren't very big, but they certainly do what they're supposed to do. I bought 2 shareware products from the company this week to take care of one problem I knew about and another that I didn't -- until I saw how RoboMagic could fix it.
Nerdly News: Video games on your cell phone. That's the next thing from Nokia and if you're interested in setting up a blog, Lycos has a way for you to do it.
Another week, another browser: Opera has just released version 7 of its standards-compliant browser. I'll tell you about it and show you some pictures.
Making book (again): I just told you about a couple of books from O'Reilly and already one of them is out in a new
edition. "Webmaster in a Nutshell" (3rd edition) builds on what was in the second edition.
What do you do when you have a lousy website host? You leave. Technology Corner was hosted by Feature Price for about 4 months and, for the first two months, service was great. Then something happened. I don't know what. I haven't been able to reach customer support in more than two weeks. We're on a new server hosted by Akashik, an Australian company. I'm delighted with what I've seen so far and hope that I'll be just as delighted 2 months from now.
Going on a Safari: Have a Mac? Running OS X? Get a copy of the new Safari browser. It's still in beta and it has some shortcomings, but it's a fast browser that's stunningly good.
Making book: If you do any work on websites, I have a couple of books to tell you about. They're from O'Reilly, so you know you'll find a cute little animal on the covers. "Webmaster in a Nutshell" and "Web Design in a Nutshell" are excellent reference works individually; together they're unbeatable.
Questions and answers: We get questions. We give answers. Sometimes we even give answers to the questions that have been asked. Occasionally the answers even make sense.
In Nerdly News ... It seems like just a few weeks ago that Microsoft released Windows Media Player 8. Well, now they've released version 9. Verizon continues to fight what probably will be a losing battle: A federal judge has ordered the company to turn over to the Recording Industry Association of America information about a Verizon ISP subscriber.
Ten for X: Apple makes some wonderful computers, but the company includes (at no extra charge) some incredibly stupid decisions. A package of 12 (yeah, I know it says 10 in the headline) utilities makes the Mac a lot easier to use. OSX only!
Is that a hole in the ground? Sometimes when I deal with tech support folks, problems get solved. And sometimes they don't. I have an account of the second sort for you this week.
Talking with a couple of broads: One of the PR agencies I deal with occasionally is run by a couple of broads (their term). Just how tech-savvy can a couple of broads be, anyway?
In Nerdly News ... There's a new browser for the Mac (OS X only) and it might just be the best browser you don't have to buy. Mac users, rejoice. (I think.) More details next week. The Supreme Court says copyright legislation that extends copyright protection for 20 years may not be intelligent, but it's not unconstitutional.
January, and our thoughts turn to ... finance: This is a good time of year to take a look at how you're keeping track of your finances. I've used Quicken for quite a few years, but I hadn't used a new version since 2000 or 2001. The 2003 version has quite a few more tricks up its voluminous sleeve, starting with an attractive, useful, and informational interface.
If you're not quite satisfied with the Windows Explorer take a look at PowerDesk, now a V-Com product. PowerDesk offers much more flexibility and functionality than the standard Explorer. While I still have to use the Explorer for a few esoteric tasks, PowerDesk is a great replacement for it most of the time.
Ever want to rip the operating system out and start over? Me, too. And I do occasionally. That's how I spent a little bit of time on Christmas eve, a lot of time on Christmas day, and several more hours between then and the end of the year. Why? How? What did I hope to accomplish? Did I? Does the computer still work? Am I crazy? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question; please don't reply.)
In Nerdly News ... Apple released information this week about the latest PowerBook. That sound you heard at mid week was what it sounds like when every Mac owner in the country gasps at the same time. Wow! Oh, and Microsoft continues its drive to make hardware, including a watch that could come with a monthly licensing fee.
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