Holiday Themes

If you have Windows 7, here's a pretty cool Twinkle Wish Theme for your desktop. And if you use Firefox, you can spice up your browser theme with Tinseltown. Just a bit of the holiday spirit for you!

61 Free Apps

I took a look at this list and use 20% of what they have listed. You might just find something useful too! Read on…

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Wireless USB Hard Drive

Imation has started selling a 1.5 TB hard drive, the Wireless HD ProWX that connects to your PC/Mac via wireless USB. With a cost of $450, I think I'll wait a bit before running out and picking one up. Read on...

Google SMS

Now that I have a real keyboard on my phone, I can get jiggy with text messages. So exactly what kind of fun can I have with that?

Bauer told me that he’s been using Google SMS for years. (Man, I’ve been out of it with the stupid flip phone I had)

What is Google SMS? Seems you can get directions, weather, restaurant information and just a whole bunch of stuff.

I just set my default location by texting SET LOCATION to North Park, San Diego, CA. Next I’ll play with driving directions. Check it out! Read on…

Thanks Bauer!

Windows 7 System Repair Disc

System recovery options can help you repair Windows if a serious error occurs, such as corruption of the OS. To use system recovery options, you’ll need a Windows installation disc or access to the recovery options provided by your computer manufacturer. If you don’t have either of those choices, you can create a system repair disc to access system recovery options.

Now that Windows 7 is out, you are going to need a System Repair Disc handy. Read on…

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

I have been using the Office 2010 Technical Preview application on a test laptop for a few months now. It is much faster than Office 2007 and has some added features.

If you have an extra system and want to check it out for yourself, it’s worth the registration to download it. Read on…

(Note* You have to use Internet Explorer browser to download it)

Windows 7 Application Compatibility List

The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals is a Microsoft Office Excel-based spreadsheet containing software applications with Windows 7 compatibility information verified by the software publisher or by the Windows 7 Logo Program testing requirements. Read on...

Facebook Hijacking

(CNN) -- Hundreds of Facebook groups have been hijacked in recent days by users pointing out what they say is a weakness in how the social-networking site handles the administration of its groups.

By Tuesday morning, 286 groups had apparently been renamed Control Your Info and had a new message posted to their walls.

"Hello, we hereby announce that we have officially hijacked your Facebook group," the message reads. "This means we control a certain part of the information about you on Facebook. If we wanted we could make you appear in a bad way which could damage your image severely [sic]." Nice!  Read on…

The 2009 PC World Top 100

Here are the best hardware, software, and services of the year, as selected by the PC World Editorial Team. Read on…

Free Games For Windows

It's not out yet, but Tinker and Texas Hold 'Em will soon be coming (for free) to Windows.
Course anything to do with robots and poker gets my attention. Read on...

Verizon Wireless Doubles Early Termination Fee

Starting Nov. 15th,  Verizon plans to double its early termination fee (ETF) -- to $350 -- for customers who end their cellphone contracts early.

I would pay $350 not to be on the ATNCrap network. Read on…

(Of course, I’m the proud and few with Touch Pro 2 goodness with Verizon)

Touch Pro 2 Goodness, At Last!!!

I finally got my hands on a Verizon HTC Touch Pro 2!

(Click Here for a more pics)

HEY BAUER! LOOK WHAT I GOT!!!

Send/Receive Errors In Outlook

This guide also contains a list of send/receive error codes which you may encounter and their meaning. For certain error codes, a more specific solution is also mentioned. Read on…

Tech Tool of The Week

We like squeaky clean computers that run at “tip top” performance. Here’s a temp tool cleaner for Outlook. Read on…

Unknown Devices Tool

Unknown Devices helps you find what those unknown devices in Device Manager really are.

By checking Device Manager for unknown devices and extracting information from it, this program attempts to figure out what the device is. You might not have to open your case or look up random numbers off of PCI cards to figure out what they are. Read on…

Automatically Dismiss Nag Screens

With free software, it's a given that you're going to encounter the occasional nag screen, those in-your-face pop-up messages that remind you about an enhanced professional version or remind you that you haven't checked for updates in ages.

I know Click-Off would come in handy for the free version of my favorite antivirus software, Avira, because it has that annoyance. Here’s the freebie version link if you want a really good free antivirus.

Click-Off is a free download and runs on Windows. Read on…

Retinal Implants

Fascinating! The implant contains a tiny array of electrodes. The electrodes prompt the remains of retinal circuits to transmit signals to the brain. A camera that is worn on eyeglasses supplies images to the implant wirelessly. Sounds a bit Borgish eh? I like it! Read on…

New York Times – Bay Area Edition

The New York Times recently began a Bay Area print edition, with extra local news, columns and culture articles running in the Friday and Sunday newspapers sold in that area.

And this week, they started a companion blog, called The Bay Area, that offers a roundup of all of those articles, reports on breaking news and links to interesting stories about the region from The Times and other news outlets. Read on…

Wal-Mart Tech Support

Seriously?! Would you really want an underpaid Wal-Mart employee to setup your home theater or the home office computer? Seriously?! Read on…

20 Best Windows Tweaks

Windows 7 has been released and it’s a huge upgrade from previous versions of Windows. The big question for us geeks, however, is “Will all of my favorite tweaks still work?” Read on…

My favorite tweak:

Move To on Windows 7 or Vista Right-Click Menu

PDF Reference Manuals

This search engine is dedicated to indexing PDF files scattered all over the web. It’s extremely useful for finding technical manuals that you might have thrown away without having to dig through the original manufacturer’s website. It’s also great for finding ebooks and obscure academic documents. Read on…

10 Seriously Ridiculous Hacks

Any article I find that has "ridiculous", "seriously" and "hacks" in the same title is worth a post, don't ya think? I mean, really, seriously?! Read on...

Windows 7, Oh No You Di'int!

Today is the release of Windows 7 to the world. Oh boy! As you know, I said I would migrate off Vista and yes, I am. You should know there will be issues, I assure you, you will have issues.

Let's just review my first issue. My Officejet L7580 (which is about 2 years old) doesn't have a driver that works on Windows 7. Sure, allegedly its "plug and play" but I have been running BETA Windows 7 since the get go and the printer just doesn't work on it.

Here's HP's answer:

A full feature software and driver package for Windows 7 is currently not available for your product. However, a full feature download will be available for your product in late January 2010 . Until then, the Windows 7 operating system installed on your computer contains a basic driver solution for your product.

Yea, ummmm....that's not helping.

So, I decided to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, just for hoots and hollers. Keep in mind I did hoops to get Vista to run on this Thinkpad T60p last year. Seems Lenovo utilities have some issues, and I'll need to upgrade ZoneAlarm, Lenovo's Power Manager, ATI Catalyst Install Manager and the BIOS on this box.  No, you just don't stick in the Windows 7 DVD and run it, it's never that easy.

Even though it will be hours of "fun", it is worth it in the long run, because Vista sucks!

BlueScreenView

BlueScreenView opens, displays, and interprets the data saved in minidump (*.dmp) files which are usually found in C:\Windows\Minidump after a Blue Screen Of Death. Might come in handy. Read on...

32 Planets Discovered

(CNN) -- Thirty-two planets have been discovered outside Earth's solar system through the use of a high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope, an international team announced Monday.

Although only 32 were announced Monday, the team knows of many more exoplanets, although more observation is needed before they are formally announced and papers are written about them. "We have tons of them," Udry said. Read on…

Crack a Master Padlock

You never know, it could come in handy one day. Read on…

Re-Thinking Your Warm Up Routine

It’s Sunday and another beautiful day in Diego. Time to go play some golf!

Before you go, check out this article regarding a proper warm up. Good news is that it doesn’t need to take a tremendous amount of time, about four to five minutes will do the trick. (However, you won’t see me doing any push-ups on a putting green) Read on…

Constant Guard by Comcast

Here is an interesting concept. Comcast announced that it has begun rolling out a service that will warn its broadband customers when they could be infected with malware based on their traffic patterns.

This might be good thing, but then again... it's Comcast. Read on...

Windows 7 Upgrade Guide

I am counting the days when I can finally migrate off of “BANG” Vista. If you need to know how to upgrade to Windows 7, here is a really great article that walks you through it. Read on…

Art and Science in a Small World

Since 1975, Nikon has been awarding annual prizes to scientists and enthusiasts who take pictures through a microscope. Popularly known as a maker of professional and consumer cameras, the company is also a major manufacturer of biological and industrial microscopes. Here are the top 20 images plus the popular vote winner from the 2009 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. Check out the slideshow here.