Take Control of Windows 7 Visual Effects

"In addition, some users find certain aspects of the Aero Desktop annoying but don’t want to turn it off completely and miss out the features they do like. Fortunately, Microsoft lets you take control of many of the individual features that make up the Aero Desktop."

XBoot Creates Your Own Custom, Multi-Image Bootable USB Drive

Papa Sangre: binaural video game with no video

"You're in Papa Sangre's palace. His palace is in an afterlife that takes the form of a malevolent, unpredictable carnival: imagine a Mexican graveyard on the Day of the Dead -- with the lights off. You're the piñata for a host of partying monsters. They probably look a lot worse than they sound. You should count yourself lucky it's too dark to see them." Also: "Requires minimum iPhone 3GS / iPhone 4 / iPad / 4th generation iPod touch ... does not currently support original iPhone or iPhone 3G", and you need to use headphones.

How to Stay Secure Online

"Although there is no 100% full-proof plan, there are ways to greatly improve your online security and plan for the worst. " I've just requested of my credit union that they offer temporary credit card numbers.

High-Tech School Bus Teaches Students on the Road

"The five 19-inch customized computer screens stream math and science content from PBS, NASA, the Discovery Channel, CBS News and the Smithsonian Institution for students to watch on their hour-long rides to and from school. The screens also include video-conferencing capabilities."

Google's Teach Parents Tech site to help mom and dad find the 'any' key this Christmas

"At the moment, we're counting 54 cross-platform how-to videos hosted by real live Google employees. The videos are brief (less than a minute) covering topics as simple as 'how to copy and paste' and 'how to attach a file to an email' to more advanced sessions covering 'how to setup an email autoresponder' and even 'how to find cheap flights.'"

Watermark, Join and Split PDF Files the Easy Way

iPhone App Slows Down Music When You Speed

"... the app Slow Down uses the iPhone’s sensors to track how fast you’re driving. If you go a few miles over the speed limit, it slows down the tempo of any track playing from your music library. And if you exceed by more than 6 miles per hour, the music stops completely until you resume driving at a normal speed again. "

Turn Off User Account Control (UAC) for a Specific Application

Caregiver Software to Guide Mentally Impaired Patients

" The software, called Guide, is designed to verbally prompt patients by asking questions and waiting for answers. "

How to Use the BitDefender Rescue CD to Clean Your Infected PC

CrashPlan – Backup Features

I've just discovered this excellent backup system: -- free for basic use -- lets you backup to a folder, another computer in your house, or a friend's computer (you cna be each other's off-site backup) -- all backups are fully encrypted -- does bitwise backup: only the parts of the file that have changed are added to the backup Lots more at the link above, and there are reviews here and here. [AVKDDEY]

Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor

How to Use the Kaspersky Rescue Disk to Clean Your Infected PC

How to Verify if an Email Address Is Real or Fake

Center of Phone Etiquette

Best domain name ever: pleaseshutup.com

Cleaning your Laptop’s Fan: The Song

25 Cool Windows 7 Keyboard Tricks That Will Impress Your Friends

Coding Horror: Breaking the Web's Cookie Jar

"The Firefox add-in Firesheep caused quite an uproar a few weeks ago, and justifiably so. Here's how it works"

Email Writing Values: Concision, Concision, Concision

Escaping Special Characters < JavaScript

Great service: Feed2JS

Feed2JS offers the ability to display RSS feed items on your own website, and lets you customize the output in many ways. The Feed2JS server also serves as a feed cache, so that if you add a feed to one of your web pages, the feed itself won't be hit every time the page is loaded (that is rude to the feed host, and can place quite a load on the server providing the feed). And it goes one step better: the code, and instructions, for hosting your *own* Feed2JS server are freely available.

Big thanks to Alan Levine for bring this to life and making it available; and thanks to Modevia Web Services for hosting the site for him.

Why Do So Many Geeks Hate Internet Explorer?

Conference Call Service – Audio Conferencing Services, Conference Call Company – FreeConferenceCall.com

Free conference calling, up to 96 participants, and only the person who sets it up has to register. Great feature list. No idea how they can afford to do it.

How to Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 3 to Create an Integrated XP Setup Disk with SP 3

The 10 Cleverest Ways to Use Linux to Fix Your Windows PC

If you do this in an email, I hate you

The Oatmeal's take on email ettiquette.

How to Copy a DVD using Windows

What Files Should You Backup On Your Windows PC?

Without Television

"With that said, our subject today is the ongoing consumption of television as a lifestyle choice. That is, weighing the value of frequent and regular television watching rather than the value of any particular piece of specific programming. This is about flow, not show."

The pain of watching non geeks use computers…

Funny cartoon.

How To Install PHP on IIS 6.0

I installed PHP to support the excellent Feed2JS service. Unfortunately, it won't work with SharePoint RSS feeds, because the SharePoint RSS feeds don't validate/don't adhere to standards. [sigh]

Step-by-Step Guide to Installing iTunes Without Extra Bloatware

Five Best Fax Services

Some are free, some are send-only, some are receive only.

Guide to Computer Microphones

How to Transfer Your iTunes Collection from One Computer to Another

How To Edit Your Hosts File

A Guide To Internet Memes

MultiBoot USB: Simplifies Taking Your IT Toolbox With You

15 Things Every PC User Should Know

Inside the HDMI cable scam

"Cable makers and dealers make money exploiting the ignorance of TV buyers."

Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer

WePay Makes Managing Group Payments Much Easier

Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

Someone I know uses this, and it is easy and looks good. And no advertising.

Outlook Plug-in Keeps Tone of Your Email in Check

“ToneCheck looks to bridge the gap between an email that sounds right in your head and an email that sounds right to the recipient.”

Use System File Checker to Repair Your Unbootable Windows PC

Free Nature Sounds

Mix your own nature sounds from dozens of different sources. you can also save and send mixes (via URL), and even export to WAV/MP3.

Quote of the Day

"I basically like "comments," though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

- Gene Weingarten, columnist for the Washington Post, on how the Internet is changing print journalism.

How to Create and Start Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10

"The Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 is a special product to scan severely infected systems from outside of Windows. The disk may come in handy when system files are damaged after a virus attack and/or in case of the OS failing to start."

MultiBootISOs Boots Multiple Operating Systems from a USB Drive

How to Access the Internet (A Guide from 2025)

Whatever Happened to Voice Recognition?

How to Find the Person behind an Email Address

FamilyShield is a No-Setup Adult Content Blocker for Your Router

OpenDNS rocks!

Computer Hardware Chart

The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains

"What kind of brain is the Web giving us?"

Online file conversion with Zamzar

Including what I needed it for: PDF to .doc. Thanks, Zamzar!

The Simplest and Cheapest Free Web Hosting Services

The Power User's Guide to the Windows 7 Taskbar

Lie-Detection Brain Scan Could Be Used in Court for First Time

Rest in Peas: The Unrecognized Death of Speech Recognition

Ubuntu Manual

"Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04 is a comprehensive beginners guide for the Ubuntu operating system. It is written under an open source license and is free for you to download, read, modify and share. The manual will help you become familiar with everyday tasks such as surfing the web, listening to music and scanning documents. With an emphasis on easy to follow instructions, it is suitable for all levels of experience."

How to report on-line fraud

concerning Craigslist, eBay, and other commerce sites

Roger Ebert: Why I Hate 3-D Movies

The 10-Minute Ubuntu Setup

Use the 10/20/30 Rule to Avoid Disastrous PowerPoint Presentations

UnknownDevices Recognizes Your Hardware When Device Manager Can't

Recover Data Like a Forensics Expert Using an Ubuntu Live CD

A guide to protecting your information on the New Facebook

Paradisoft Touchpad Locker - Lock the touchpad while typing

"Lock your laptop touchpad while typing. Touchpad Locker prevents accidental mouse clicks when typing on laptop keyboard."

When Copyright Goes Bad - documentary

"'When Copyright Goes Bad' (from Consumers International) is a great, 15-minute mini-documentary on what copyright can do, what it is doing, and what it needs to stop doing. "

Windows Maintenance Tips: The Good, Bad, and Useless

"Everybody's got an opinion on how to keep a Windows system running fast and smooth. Some tips are timeless, others are bunk that always recirculate. Here's a closer look at what really helps and hurts your Windows PC."

Create a Persistent Bootable Ubuntu USB Flash Drive

"Don’t feel like reinstalling an antivirus program every time you boot up your Ubuntu flash drive? We’ll show you how to create a bootable Ubuntu flash drive that will remember your settings, installed programs, and more!"

Double Driver 4.0 is an even better driver backup and restore app for Windows

How Much CPU Power Is Really Needed?

Good article, to which I would add: don't worry about the processor. Get as much RAM as financially possible, it makes a big difference.

Are Passwords a Waste of Time?

Scan a Windows PC for Viruses from a Ubuntu Live CD

Alice

"Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a teaching tool for introductory computing. It uses 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface to facilitate a more engaging, less frustrating first programming experience."

Use OpenID

"OpenID was designed to be a free, decentralized identity system -- in other words, a bit like a driver's license for the web. Instead of maintaining dozens of usernames and passwords spread out over all the web, an OpenID user can maintain a single identity with just one password. "

The Complete Guide to Saving Your Windows System with a Thumb Drive

Top 10 Differences between Windows XP and Windows 7

"Although not all are earth-shattering changes, listed below are the Top 10 differences between Windows XP and Windows 7. Many of these changes may seem like a big deal because you’ve gotten so used to how things work in XP. If you are considering upgrading from XP to Windows 7, be prepared for these changes."

Recover Deleted Files on an NTFS Hard Drive from a Ubuntu Live CD

Safeguard Your Equipment with a Surge Protector

This is a good article, but since surge protectors should be replaced every year or two (the cheaper it is, the more often it needs to be replaced), do what I do: use regular non-surge-protector power strips, and plug them into a good surge block thingy (like this) that plugs directly into the wall. Then every year you just replace the wall thingy, and don't have to replace the more expensive power strips, if you even need a power strip: the linked device turns a 2-plug outlet into a 6-plug outlet.

Idiot users still intentionally opening, clicking on spam

"Internet users are still opening their spam e-mail with abandon and clicking the links and/or opening the attachments within."

Getting Families and Friends Together Again, Virtually

"Researchers engaged in the together anywhere, together anytime (TA2) project seek to make telepresence technology available to households by creating the components needed to build an affordable and easy-to-install in-home telepresence system.

The (un)importance of usage stats

Many of my friends and coworkers place a great deal of importance on web usage stats / web analytics. While the data can be useful, it has always been my opinion that the numbers are very easy to misinterpret. Usage reports provide perfectly accurate data that is very, very difficult to interpret, and should not be used by themselves to make decisions about web sites.

Value: do more hits = bigger value?

Not necessarily.

The Dilbert cartoon web page gets far more hits per day than all of my websites combined get in a year, but the world would be just fine if the Dilbert site went away. Likewise, maybe you have a page that only gets a few hits per month, but the information on it is used by someone to make an important decision.

When I look for something, I often go through several pages to get there, because of:

• wrong guesses by me when navigating a site
• search results that ended up being non-relevant 
• simply clicking through a site to get to what I need (clicking through *to* something causes hits to the site and to pages that are on the way there)

 More hits on a site = users like the site and found it useful?

If I don't give up easily (and I don't, but some people do) I may click through dozens of your pages to find what I'm looking for, even if I never find it and leave unhappy

Page A gets no hits. Why?

• It's useless? probably not, because people don't know that until they hit it. At most it will stop return visits by the same person.
• It's hard to find? If it's misclassified, poorly linked, not in the menu, etc., is this the fault of the page, or the site?
• Its content is not of much use? Maybe to most people, but what if one person visits it and uses the info on it to make a million dollar decision?

Page B gets lots of hits. Does this mean it's a good page?

A page hit does not mean the user liked the page (in the same way that going to a movie doesn't mean you liked the movie). Advertising and previews/trailers get you to movies.

Even repeat visits can't be interpreted as a satisfied user: I have contributed many repeat page hits at microsoft.com and other sites trying to find what I'm looking for, and going back to pages I've already seen because what I need must be there even though I didn't find it the first time; or I was lead back there by a search engine after clicking around the site failed to find it.

My site is getting less or more hits than a year ago, so my site is worth less or more than it was a year ago.

• Has your site changed? (for example, was your site trimmed down by x%?)
• Has your user population changed? (less or more of them than a year ago?)
• Has your site become more well-known, and people are using favorites, shortcuts, links in email and documents, or keywords to get right to what they need instead of browsing in through the front door?
• Did you move/rename something, making it harder to find (especially if you changed the path and broke the aforementioned Favorites/shortcuts/links)? This is one of the things I think web developers don't pay enough attention to: leaving things where they are for sake of those that *already* know where they are; if someone rearranges your grocery store to be more logical, or to fit some bigwig's whim, you're not being very nice to those that already know the layout of the store.
• Did some news announcement cause a peak in user visits? Isn't that more a testament to the power of the media? (Don't movies do well at the box office because of the ad money poured into advertising them? Lots of bad movies have big numbers; seeing a movie doesn't mean the viewer liked it, in the same way that a web page hit doesn't mean that the user found the page useful).

So there's two major themes concerning why it is difficult to tell *anything* with usage stats:

1. a user visit or page hit does not mean they are happy with what they found
2. you can't ascribe value to a hit, because you don't know how valuable the found information is to the user

So what *can* you use stats for?

Well, they can be used in concert with

• survey data (which itself is not especially known for being reliable, and which is more unreliable the longer the survey is); and
• user testing (watching someone trying to perform a task); this is what the pros do, but it's every bit as time-consuming and expensive as you'd imagine it would be

I've found some of the following reports to be somewhat useful (but again, misinterpretation is just as easy to do here):

• single-page visits: which pages do people come to via search result/link/favorite, and then leave?
• entry pages: what pages do people start at?
• exit pages: what is the last page people see before they leave?
• most visited pages

But usually, once I start thinking of ways I might be misinterpreting the data, I end up taking nothing from it.

 

The Technium: Virtual Choir

"Take a look at this virtual choir. It brings 185 voices, all recorded independently at home, and then combined into a virtual choir. Each voice (available on the side of the video) is expert, each face unique; combined they are heavenly." Be sure to full-screen it (the icon of arrows pointing outward)

Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google

"In a recent study of fifth grade students in the Netherlands, most never questioned the credibility of a Web site, even though they had just completed a course on information literacy."

Comodo Time Machine: roll back your PC to a previous state, including every file on every partition

"Comodo Time Machine is a free program that can roll your system back in time, on-demand, to a previous state. It provides the ability to “undo” any kind of undesirable event, such as a virus or malware infestation or any event or events that might have caused your PC to become too cluttered, slow, or unresponsive, by giving you the ability to revert back to a baseline state or to a snapshot of the system taken before the problem started. It also provides the ability to recover any data or files that may have been accidentally deleted, saved-over, or damaged in any way."

Installing the Updated XP Mode which Requires no Hardware Virtualization

The Definitive Guide to Keeping Your PC Up to Date

Google's Matt Cutts explains how search works in layman's terms

Is voice becoming the new text (again)?

"In recent months, however -- despite the pop-culture parodies and the increasing popularity of the text message -- researchers say voice-activated technologies have entered a renaissance of sorts."

Image hosting on the cheap: a look at three free services

Odds Are, It's Wrong

"Science was seduced by statistics, the math rooted in the same principles that guarantee profits for Las Vegas casinos."

Lifeyo is an incredible content management system for newbies

Free/low cost websites that you can build yourself.

Banish Seven Bad Tech Habits

How to save and share ridiculously large files

Create Polished Mind Maps at Bubbl.us

With discussion of other idea mapping tools in article and comments. (Mind mapping is a catchy, but incorrect, term for what these products do.)

We're so good at medical studies that most of them are wrong

Easily Install Ubuntu Linux with Windows Using the Wubi Installer

DummyImage.com is the Lorem Ipsum of web images

"DummyImage.com is a great time saver for web developers laying out a quick page. It receives arguments in the URL, and returns an image of the exact size, colors, and file format specified. "

Introduction to CSS Web Design

Very, very basic, but a great intro because of that.

SimplyNoise.com - The best free white noise generator on the Internet.

It's true. I like brown noise.

8 HDTV Myths Demystified

Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love

Official Google Reader Blog: Follow changes to any website

"Feeds make it easy to follow updates to all kinds of webpages, from blogs to news sites to Craigslist queries, but unfortunately not all pages on the web have feeds. Today we're rolling out a change in Google Reader that lets you create a custom feed to track changes on pages that don't have their own feed. "

Violent video games make kids hostile?

New process yields high-energy-density, plant-based transportation fuel

"The simple process preserves about 95 percent of the energy from the original biomass, requires little hydrogen input, and captures carbon dioxide under high pressure for future beneficial use."

ProConLists Helps Weigh Decisions Before You Make Them

"Sometimes the best way to make a tough decision is the tried-and-true pros and cons list. Web site ProConLists does the same pro versus con listing, but with item weighting based on rational and emotional considerations."

Create Your Own XP Mode for Any Version of Windows

"Windows 7's XP Mode feature seamlessly runs your older applications in a virtualized Windows XP behind the scenes, but if you're using the Home edition, you're out of luck. Here's how to create your own XP Mode for any version."

CCTVs don't make us safer

"Bruce Schneier has written an outstanding essay for CNN on why sticking CCTV cameras on every corner doesn't make us safer, and can make us less safe by opening us up to abuse, and by causing police resources to be misallocated. "

Secure the Windows 7 Administrator Account

" Although it doesn’t show up in the list of available accounts when Windows 7 boots up, every installation of Microsoft’s newest operating system by default has an administrator account built in.Unfortunately, this administrator account can be a major security risk for users of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions. Learn how to take control and secure the administrator account in Windows 7."

Restore Previous Versions of Files in Every Edition of Windows 7

"Have you ever accidently deleted a file, or removed a crucial part of a document only to realize it no longer makes sense? Windows 7 is smart enough to protect you from yourself, and here we’ll see how you can restore files in any edition of Windows 7."

Backup and Move Your iTunes Library to Another Computer

Wiimote-Controlled Robot Drum Circle Makes Human Hippies Obsolete

No Good DVDeed Goes Unpunished [Movies]

"Both pirating (and legal streaming) offer a seamless viewing experience. DVDs and Blu-rays take the liberty of making you watch extra/unrelated crap. Oh, and like an airline safety briefing, one FBI warning is enough to cover me for life."

PleaseRobMe website reveals dangers of social networks

"'The website is not a tool for burglary,' he said. 'The point we're getting at is that not long ago it was questionable to share your full name on the internet. We've gone past that point by 1000 miles.'"

FillerItemFinder Helps You Secure Free Amazon Shipping

"We've all been here: you pick out a few items from Amazon.com, you're about finish your order, and Amazon informs you that you're a mere $3.72 away from free shipping. FillerItemFinder finds a cheap item you actually want to meet the cutoff."

Run XP Mode on Windows 7 Machines Without Hardware Virtualization

Digital Books and Your Rights: A Checklist for Readers

LookInMyPC Is a Must-Have Tool for Computer Troubleshooting

VPN error

If you're using the AT&T Network Client to VPN somewhere, and you get the message "VPN server list could not be obtained from the server (RIG0420E)", quadruple-check that you're using the right password.

I'm not only the president of Durrrr Incorporated, I'm also a client.

(But it's not all my fault: when they force us to have passwords of at least 8 characters, using only digits, bad things are bound to happen).

FollowUpThen Automates Email Follow Ups

"CC twodays@followupthen.com, and if that person hasn't responded yet, they'll be automatically re-pinged 48 hours from now. It's a neat service, and it's free."

SI Tablet

Wait for the video to load at the top, it's cool stuff. If we can get even halfway there, tablet computing will be great. But the one thing they never mention: how to deal with greasy/dirty finger streaks all over your screen. Yechh.

The 4 Big Myths of Profile Pictures

"In looking closely at the astonishingly wide variety of ways our users have chosen to represent themselves, we discovered much of the collective wisdom about profile pictures was wrong."

SUPERAntiSpyware Portable is the Must-Have Spyware Removal Tool You Need

3outube Downloads YouTube Files With a Single URL Change

My Avatar Editor

"To put it simply, My Avatar Editor is a free, online tool for creating and editing avatars. Avatars are digital representations of real people. When you create an avatar in My Avatar Editor, you can then save it for later use or share it with others using a unique avatar URL."

Making the Most of Your Netbook

"Netbooks are a great compromise between pecking away a smartphone keyboard or hauling a tank-size laptop around—but they aren't without shortcomings. Make the most of your netbook with these netbook-friendly tips, tricks, and applications."

Five New Year’s Resolutions for the Responsible Internet User

Why I'm Quitting Facebook

I've finally decided to quit Facebook. I'm a cranky person, but I know that the things that bug me most are things that also bug some other people, so in order to make the world a better place, I hereby list my top irritations with Facebook, because that will fix everything up.

1. Applications, quizzes, and games: the biggest waste of time and electrons on the planet -- and that's saying something, because we humans have turned wasting time and electrons into an art form. And it doesn't even matter that I don't participate in them: they clog up the status update list. Facebook Lite (http://lite.facebook.com/) goes a long way toward fixing this. But some stuff still gets through, and I really wish we could also block "[Friend] posted a comment on [someone I've never heard of]'s status".

2. People making cryptic updates: instead of posting cryptic updates like "ouch!" and "I'm experiencing dueling grills" (real updates I've seen by the way, and that was the full extent of them), why not just say "please ask me about what is going on with me"? Except Facebook is the place where we are supposed to, well, just tell people what is going on with us. And if the update is an in-joke for a few of your friends, that's not very nice for the rest of your Friends, is it?

3. Posting too often. If you find yourself posting multiple times a day, think of the flow of the home page of all your Friends, and consider posting maybe a daily wrap-up update at the end of the day.

4. It's all so superficial, isn't it? People rarely talk bout what's really important in their life, because Facebook is just too public, especially when we have people as our Friends who aren't our friends in real life. I'm pretty picky about who I have as Friends, but even so I never felt comfortable posting real news.

5. Security/Privacy issues. Don't think for a second that things you post to the internet ever, ever go away, even if you delete them. And Facebook continues to struggle with where to draw the line between keeping everything private (what we want) and sharing everything (which makes them money, which is what they want). Also, one of the big reasons I don't do a lot of applications is that, when you start them, they say "in order to find out Which Type of Donut You Are, you have to share all of your information, and the information of all your Friends, with some unknown person, who will then do with it whatever is in their twisted little minds".

So anyway, if any of my friends are reading this, none of this probably applies to you, so don't take it personally. :-)

Learn how to delete accounts from many social networks, including Facebook.

AudioTag Helps Name Music Found in Files and Video

"We've all been there: you hear a song in a commercial, over the radio, or in video clip and you can't figure out who the artist is. AudioTag scans your files or YouTube video and returns a list of matches."

How To Turn a Physical Computer Into A Virtual Machine with Disk2vhd

"Do you wish there was a hassle free way to migrate physical machines to VMs for testing and consolidation? Today we take a look at Disk2VHD from Sysinternals which is a simple solution for turning physical Windows machines into VM’s–even while they’re up and running."

How Non-Latin Domain Names Could Be Used to Steal Your Money

"The risk for general brand abuse is going to increase exponentially. It's difficult enough in English. At present, most e-mail phishing does not use anything that resembles the real site name. We could see the level of sophistication in phishing attacks increased by the use of foreign languages."

Best Linux software for new users

"For new users, I recommend the openSUSE-Edu Li-f-e(Linux for Education) Live DVD. "

Ei.cfg Removal Utility Lets You Use Any Product Key With Your Windows 7 Disc