Tech Odds and Ends

This is a follow-up on some things I have written about recently as well as a quick look at some new things you might find interesting.

Firefox 3

This new version of the Firefox Web Browser is still in final testing now, and you can download the final release candidate for previewing. I have been testing it and found it to be a very nice upgrade. Memory usage has been vastly improved. One of its most prominent new feature is the innovative address bar. It is like a search engine in that when you type in something, it searches for web sites you have visited in the past that might fit the description. For instance, I typed in "blog, " and I got a drop-down list of several possible Web sites, including the one I was looking for. This could save you time searching on Google. You can read more about it at:

http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9944662-2.html?

New USB Flash Drive

In a recent blog, I talked about buying a new 4Gb USB Flash Drive, the "Flash Voyager." It was a little slower on the speed tests than what I was led to believe, but it is still faster than my last drive and bigger too.

Windows Live Writer

You may have noticed a substantial increase in output for my two blogs. Well, blame Microsoft's free Windows Live Writer. What a great program! It makes me feel like a real writer, if that makes any sense. One always needs the right environment to be creative, and this software provides it. And, now it is installed on my flash drive so it goes everywhere with me.

iPod and iTunes

Am loving my new iPod Classic with an 80Gb drive. I have copied over my music from 300-400 CD's plus other music I already had on my Computer. I still have about 1/2 of the drive available for more. Also am subscribing to several podcasts through iTunes that are automatically added to my iPod when they become available. My podcasts are tech and photography based (and, of course, "Car Talk"). Now instead of music when I go out for exercise, I listen to these and the time just flies. Sort of like Books-on-Tape in the car (I have these also on the iPod). However, I think if I were starting over, I might consider using MediaMonkey rather than iTunes.

More on AVG Anti-Virus

When doing searches with Google, the new AVG checks each Web site on the search list for malicious code. It puts a green checkmark next to the search. And because I also use McAfee Siteadvisor in my browser, both of them show up with search results. Now that is what I call great redundancy. I am embarrassed to say that AVG has found additional trojans and spyware on all my computers. It has also found remnants of removed malware in backup directories...meaning that if I had to do a system restore, all those viruses and spyware that I have already removed would be put back on the system.

Save XP Petition

Its been four months since InfoWorld magazine asked businesses and individuals to sign a petition at SaveXP.com requesting Microsoft keep Windows XP for sale beyond the planned June 30 general end-of-sales date. So far, more than 200,000 have signed up to add their voices. As of May 15, the count was 200,805 signatures, excluding duplicates and fake sign-ups. I signed up.

Microsoft and Yahoo

Word is out that Microsoft and Yahoo have renewed negotiations for an acquisition. This time around, however, Microsoft says they are only want to buy part of Yahoo. Many knowledgeable folks think this would be bad for both companies. I agree. The hidden message here is that Microsoft is finally coming to the realization that only offering an operating system and office software is a slowly dying business model . The future is Web-oriented...computing services are starting to move to the Net rather than on your computer.

Leo LaPorte

If you miss TechTV and such great programs as "Call for Help" and "The Screen Savers." don't despair. Leo LaPorte, the host of those two shows and others is alive and well and putting out several podcasts and Internet TV shows. He is about ready to start 25 hours per week of live Internet TV shows. You can check out all this and subscribe to some or all of his podcasts at http://www.twit.tv/. A few years ago, TechTV was bought out by G4TV. If you ever want to watch some of the most brainless TV shows you have ever seen, watch G4 sometime for about 5 minutes. Pity our youth and our future.

Cranky Geek's

And speaking of Internet TV, you might want to check out the "Cranky Geek's" Internet TV show hosted by long-time PC Magazine columnist John C Dvorak. It's usually about 30 minutes long. It is fun and informative. Dvorak is a curmudgeon, no doubt about that. But, make no mistake, he knows his stuff. It is at http://www.crankygeeks.com/

Vista Infections

Is Vista is less secure than Windows 2000? That claim was made last week by security vendor PC Tools, which said that over the past six months Vista had suffered 639 unique threats, whereas Windows 2000 has suffered 586. Microsoft's response: user complacency is responsible for the increase in infections. They say Vista is far more secure than Windows 2000 and blame users for executing malicious code on their machines. Damn users...how dare you all ruin Microsoft's perfect operating system. (Maybe I'm becoming a "Cranky Geek.")

Switching ISP Fiber Provider

This entry is mainly for people who live in my home county of Grant County, Washington and are connected to the Grant County Zipp Fiber Optics network...but others may find it of some value. I wanted to share the fact that I may have discovered a better provider of Internet services (so far, so good anyway) that is providing me blinding speed connections at a fair price. It is iFiber, located in Ephrata in the old VIB offices. Now, VIB was bought out some time ago by a company called HomeNet. Recently, HomeNet was purchased by iFiber. They apparently have made a major effort to provide the kind of high speed services that fiber optics can offer.

And, just to set the record straight, iFiber is not paying me or offering any kind of benefits for me talking about them in this blog. In fact, they don't even know I write a blog. These are just the facts as I have found them so far.

Now, many of you know, that I was with BentonREA and it's subsidiary PowerTelNet, one of the earliest providers of fiber optic Internet services in Grant County. We ran probably the fastest connections at that time...so I know what fiber optics is capable of for its users. For the last couple of years, I have been with a local provider who shall remain nameless, both for my home and studio. In the last few months, I noticed my Internet upload and download speed was very slow. I began running speed tests using both SpeedTest.net Web site and a built-in testing software that came with my network software. The results have been far less than spectacular. Most of the time I ran the tests during peak Internet usage hours, because that is when I use it the most. The download speed numbers ran anywhere from 450 kb/s to 1450 kb/s (kilobytes per second). Now, this is not good and is equivalent to a low-end DSL connection. Occasionally I would see 4,000 to 5,000 speed tests, but mostly they were 2,500 or below.

Fiber can be so much faster than DSL, or anything else for that matter. So, I did some research on current providers in our area and found iFiber's Web site. They offer two levels of service for the home user...a 6 and a 12 mb/s service, the latter being $5 more per month. I also found out that their business service, which is required for my studio, offers an even higher connection speed (at a higher price, of course). They said I would see download speeds at my studio of 15,000 to 20,000 kb/s. Now, that is at least 10 times higher than what I was getting. So, I made the switch at the studio and hoped it would be true.

It's true! Yesterday's speed test came in a 22,000+ kb/s during peak usage time. I am impressed, to say the least. I have run several tests at different times of the day and they all come back at this high rate. You can bet I will be switching my home connection to them at the end of this month. I don't expect to get quite the same download speed at home, but I will let you know.

I discovered another bonus when I went to Steve Gibson's Security Web site to run security tests on my new provider (I mentioned Gibson's site a couple of blogs ago). I went the his "Shield's Up" test site that can analyze the level of your protection right over the Net. Using the "Common Ports" part of his test, I discovered that iFiber's gateway does not use Reverse DNS, which is very good.

Without getting too techy, the "Common Ports" test has three possible outcomes for your computer...Open Ports, Closed Ports, and Stealth Ports. Open, is of course very bad, meaning your computer is wide open to anybody who wants in. Closed Ports is better and means hackers normally can't get in the easy way, but it still shows you exist. Stealth Ports is the best results because hackers cannot even see that you are there. The test on my previous provider showed Closed Ports, meaning my router was blocking intruders, but I could still be seen. With iFiber's service, all my ports are reported as Stealth, meaning my ports and, for that matter, my computer(s) can't even be seen. Now, that is good. I'm invisible!!

Now, I have only been with them for a couple of days so, time will tell if they really are a good provider, but so far, so good and it is nice to get the best bang for my buck, especially on super high speed fiber optic system. But, if I were you, regardless of who your provider is, I would run some speed tests and use the "Shield's Up" test just to see how secure you are.

AVG Free Anti-Virus V.8 - Get It!

Like many of you, I have been using AVG's Free Anti-Virus V.7.5 software for a few years, along with Avast! Anti-Virus. Not long ago, for reasons that aren't all that important for this article, I switched all my computers over to AVG. In the last few days, AVG has released their Version 8, both in paid and free versions. If you are using AVG 7.5, be aware that at the end of this month, AVG will stop producing daily virus update definitions for V.7.5, so you must update to V.8 to keep your virus software current.

The good news is that V.8 is so improved over the previous version that you should get it right now. They have made many major improvements that take this new version beyond just anti-virus. First, the anti-virus detection is so much better than the previous version. On all my computers, it has found a few viruses and trojans that V7.5 had missed. Most were not a problem, but it was a bit disconcerting to find them on my systems. Second, it went much deeper than the previous version, meaning it found references to viruses and other malware in my Windows Registry and in the hidden recovery files area. Some were only warnings of potential problems, but others were real. Obviously, I removed all of them.

Second, AVG now has anti-spyware detection built-in, a new feature to be sure. Even more disconcerting was that it found a whole lot of the spyware that my other two paid anti-spyware products had missed (Spyware Doctor and CounterSpy). I know this is not unheard of as I have written here before, but still, when you pay your money you want complete protection.

Want more features? How about protection from bad Web sites, meaning those that contain malicious code that try to get into your system when you view their pages. In the free version, you will only get protection while doing Web searches. But, it does warn you when an e-mail contains links to dangerous Web sites. Now, the few existing reviews that I have read about V.8 say that this feature may not be perfected yet. I know I had a warning in one of my e-mails from the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce about a site that I am pretty sure is not dangerous. But still, it is better than nothing and will probably be improved over time.

Now, one not-so-great feature. During the installation, you will be asked if you want to install the AVG Security Tool Bar in your browser. You would be very wise to say NO. It won't do you much good and it is really a promotion item to add Yahoo Search to your browser. Every review I have read...and my own experience on one computer, agrees with me on this point. One review I read said it installed it anyway even after he said no. And, while you can disable it in your browser, you can't get rid of it.

After using it, you may be tempted to upgrade to the paid version, but be aware that one review I read from CNet Labs says it is a serious resource hog. The paid version adds a software firewall, anti-spam, anti-rootkit, safe instant messaging, and safe surfing. Click here to read about the differences in their free vs paid products and to download the product(s).

But, with this these caveats, the program is definitely a major upgrade over the previous version and I would recommend that you seriously consider it. I think you may be shocked at what it finds

Avoiding Glitches in Windows XP SP3 Update

I have a heard a few reports of installation problems with the newest Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. I would be surprised if some folks didn't have problems...it always happens with upgrades. With SP3, most updates go fine, but here and there you will have glitches. Some of them seem to occur more often with computers using AMD processors. Now, that worries me a bit as all four of our computers use AMD...and I have not yet found the time (or courage for that matter) to do my upgrades. However, thanks to Adrian Kingsly-Hughes over at ZDNet, here is a list of to-do's that might help make the installation of SP3 go smooth. Here is a portion of his blog on the subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

MINIMIZING XP SP3 WOES - UPDATED

by Adrian Kingsly-Hughes

I’m getting sporadic reports of Windows XP users having problems installing XP SP3 on some systems. Here are some tips to help make the install process a little smoother.

• Disable AV software
  It seems that some anti-virus (AV) software causes the SP3 install to hang, while the installer seems fine with others. Disable AV software before beginning the install process.
• Uninstall beta/RC versions of SP3
  It’s a good idea to get rid of these earlier versions. If you’re having problems removing them, try installing previous versions through Safe Mode.
• Uninstall IE8
  SP3 won’t play nicely on systems that have IE8 installed.
• Update drivers
  Might help, especially if your system is running really old drivers.
• Disable unnecessary startup applications
  It’s not just AV software that can cause SP3 problems. If you’re having problems getting SP3 to install then disabling as many unnecessary startup applications as you can might help.
• Possible solution to endless reboots
  Windows blogger Jesper Johansson offers some advice for those suffering endless reboots when trying to install SP3.

I’ve only come across one stubborn system personally and disabling the AV (Anti-Virus) software seemed to fix the problem.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are getting any error messages during installation, head over to this page on the Microsoft KnowledgeBase site to find out what they mean.

The Soft Underbelly of Software Firewalls

I keep hearing advice from many experts that if you surf the Internet, as we all do, you should have a firewall to prevent the bad guys from getting into your machine. This is absolutely true as I have seen evidence for myself that open port scans are constantly being attempted from across the Net to my computers. Now, I use a hardware firewall that is built into routers at both my home and office locations as I have more than one machine running at each location. But experience has taught me that one should have a router even with only one computer, just so you can have that firewall.

That being said, I have also heard that everyone who uses the Net should also have a software firewall, even if they have a router. The reason is very simple: these days you can get malware into your computer just by visiting a Web site that has encoded this intrusive type of software as part of its Web pages. No firewall can stop this as you requested the web page to come into the machine. Once inside your computer, the malware may try to contact another Web site to send your personal data or take control of your computer using the Net. This is where the software firewall comes in handy. It should notify you that something inside of your computer is trying to get out...and you can either let it happen or reject it. Now that is good...except that there are several ways around this now where the information can get out of your computer, even if you say no.

I discovered this while visiting the Web site of a well-known security expert, Steve Gibson. I've heard him before on tech podcasts and thought he was very knowledgeable. On his site, he has a simple test called "Security Up" that can scan your computer while you are on-line and tell you how safe you are. Its a little bit techy, but I found out that my hardware firewalls were working just fine. But I also noticed he had a small downloadable software called "Leak Test" that could test out your software firewall to see if it "leaked."

Now, before I go on, just a little background on software firewalls in general. Microsoft's Windows XP (with SP2 installed) and Vista come with a software firewall, and you should have it turned on. But it is only an inbound firewall, meaning it will block any inbound attempts to hack your machine. But it offers no outbound protection, meaning if your computer picked up some malware like I described earlier, you would have no idea that it was transmitting personal information out across the Internet. I've also written here before that on my laptop, I use PCTools Firewall as I travel a great deal so I am not always behind my hardware firewall. I have also used the Comodo Firewall in the past, but it drove me crazy, constantly asking me the same questions over and over again about permissions.

Now, more about Leak Test. I decided to test my PCTools Firewall with Leak Test. So I downloaded the software and ran the test. According to the instructions, my firewall should ask me if I wanted to give permission to Leak Test to go out on the Net when I ran the program. The instructions said to answer no to the question. That is when the software goes to work to see if it can bypass the software firewall anyway. Well, in the case of PCTools Firewall, it did. Even though I said no, it allowed the program onto the Net without my knowledge. FYI, when the test program bypasses the firewall, it sends a small packet of data to Gibson's Web site that responds back to you that your firewall has failed the test. When I went into the firewall setup , it showed clearly Leak Test had permission to send info onto the Net, if though I said no.

This test obviously bothered me so I began doing some additional research on firewall leaks. It turns out that there are at least 35 separate software hacks that can be used to bypass a firewall's outbound protection...and no one firewall can stop them all... at least according to Gibson and the Web site aptly named "Firewall Leak Tester", which tested all the major firewalls with all the known hacks. Now that was a bit of a shock. In reading the test results on firewallleaktester.com, the best three firewalls are "Outpost," "Kaspersky," and "Comodo." Comodo is free, but the other two cost some money. I think if I wanted the very best protection for my computers, I would purchase the "Kaspersky Lab Internet Security 7.0" program. It can be had for around $39 and includes their firewall and probably the best anti-virus software on the market today, plus anti-spam and anti-spyware.

As part of my research, I listened to some of the weekly podcasts done by Steve Gibson and hosted by Leo LaPorte called "Security Now." They were most interesting, although at times too technical, even for me. But, at the end of one of them on leaking firewalls, LaPorte mentioned that he didn't even use a software firewall because they are not perfect and take up to much of a computer's memory. And I also read a piece on another firewall company's Web site that leakage wasn't all that important because if your firewall is telling you some program is trying to get out onto the Net, it is already too late anyway.

According to LaPorte, and I sure agree with him, the best method of preventing hacks is to visit only well known, and trusted Web sites. One of the best ways to achieve this is to make sure you use McAfee Site Advisor which is available free for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. With McAfee, you can see a site's safeness rating when you do a Google or Yahoo search. I have seen several sites that have been tested as being bad...even some where McAfee actually warns you not to go there as you will pick up malware.

Frankly, I get angry thinking about how such a good thing as the Internet is constantly being hacked and used for evil by people whose only purpose is to destroy your computers or to steal information for their own greed...or by companies who want to find out what I do and where I go so their clients can advertise to me. It is so appalling that I have to have firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-spyware programs running in my computers just so I can protect myself against these handful of bad guys who want to cause me harm.

Service Pack 3 Now Available for Download

Update: A few days ago, I told you about the indefinite delay for release of Service Pack 3 for computers running Windows XP. Microsoft has now made it available for download on its Web Site. However, if you happen to be one of those folks that are running the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, you still should not download SP3. I would assume that most of my readers are not doing that.

You could download it today, or wait a few days to see if there might be any bugs that could cause problems. However, the labs that have tested SP3 say that there are no problems associated with it. Whatever you decide, you should eventually do it. If you happen to be one of those folks running the Vista operating system (you have my sympathy) your Service Pack 1 update is also available now from Microsoft.

An eBay Revolt and Some Alternatives

There is an eBay revolt in progress, led by a large number of eBay Power Sellers. They are boycotting eBay because of a change in their recent policies including much higher seller's fees. These have been brought about by the new CEO of eBay, John Donahoe. One of his most controversial changes, besides fee increases, is the elimination of negative buyer feedback. The first boycott occurred in mid-February and eBay claims it had no effect on revenues. The second organized boycott began on May 1 and its effects are still unknown.

Obviously, the fees are the biggest gripe that Power Sellers have. They claim on their semi-official boycott Web site that a seller can lose anywhere from 30%-60% of their profits to eBay fees. I agree with them there as I have personally not used e-Bay lately because I thought their fees were way too high. It is hard to figure this out at first as eBay has very cryptic, multi-tiered fee schedules that are difficult to discern at first. But, if you take the time to figure it all out, you may be surprised at how high these fees add up to be.

It will be interesting to see what this will do to eBay's business. I don't think it will have much effect initially, but over time, buyers and sellers will become very aware of the high fees as sellers will have to raise their prices to try and stay more profitable. Eventually eBay's revenues will begin to shrink as more and more competitors come on line to fill in the void. Whenever you get away from the basic core concept of your business to increase revenues, you will eventually pay the price.

In the meantime, thanks to a great, fairly new Web site called AppScout (an offshoot of PC Magazine whose goal is to "search of the best software, sites, and Web apps") , here is a list of eBay alternatives that you might find of interest:

Amazon: As the Web's number-one retailer, Amazon is the obvious choice for disillusioned eBay sellers. Although the site doesn't offer an auction feature anymore, its Stores section is a terrific place for sellers to pawn new and used goods. Best of all, no listing fee.

Audiogon: This audio site features a place for members to buy and sell used hardware. One former eBay seller who has given his business almost entirely to this site and Amazon noted that Audiogon, whose tagline is "The High End Audio Community," offers listings for a flat fee of $8--unlike eBay, which takes a percentage off of the final sales price of products.

Craigslist: Next to Amazon, Craigslist seems to be the obvious choice for former eBay sellers, thanks to its huge built-in user base. Craiglist is localized, though, which may prove a mixed blessing for users, depending on the kind of wares they're hawking. Of course, as one seller pointed out, eBay has a stake in this popular classifieds site.

eCrater: You can't talk about this online auction site without noting the similarities its name shares with that other popular site in the same space. The biggest difference? eCrater refers to itself as "100-percent free," stating, "Your eCrater store is offered to you at no charge. It will remain free, which means sellers will always get a 100% of their sales. A step in the development of the site is the introduction of premium product positions. With that, charges will apply only to sellers that are willing to advertise their products so they appear in premium positions in the corresponding categories."

Etsy: Etsy is the go-to site for sellers of handmade arts and crafts. The site's homepage showcases a large cross-section of goods, including pottery, jewelry, glassware, and crochet, among others.

iOffer: "This is not an auction. It's better!" reads iOffer's front page. The site is a bit more like a flea market; it does away with auction end times and focuses more on haggling.

Neoloch: One seller who has been actively looking for good eBay alternatives pointed us to this site, saying, "Right now, my favorite one is Neoloch, just started by a Power Seller in response to this eBay nonsense. It's small, but growing." Perhaps attempting to contrast with big, bad eBay, Neoloch is touting itself as "The Friendly Auction Site."

Onlineauction.com: That's about as straightforward as Web site names get. Four users who contacted us have switched to the site. Users pay a flat $8 month to list auctions, as opposed to eBay's per-item fee. One user reported success after the switch, while another has yet to sell anything through the site.

Overstock Auctions: According to one former eBay seller, Overstock's auction arm is, the "most similar to eBay in structure." An offshoot of the popular retail bargain site, Overstock Auctions is also one of the best-looking sites on the list.

Trocadero: More of a storefront than an auction site, Trocadero is an outlet for antique and fine art sales. Says one seller, "A basic store with them is only $4 more a month than at eBay and they take no commission. A medium tier store is $45 monthly, again with no commission."

Wagglepop: Wagglepop's tagline is "Join the Revolution," and from the comments left on this post, early this morning, clearly a few people have headed the call. The site charges a flat rate of $9.95 a month for unlimited listings. Said one commenter, "they get indexed on Google and you get real help from real people who care about helping others sell. No back stabbing[...], no high fees, and Wagglepop will give you peace of mind because you are in control of your auctions and store."

Powersellers Unite, one of the centralized boycott sites, features even more alternative sites as part of its Auction Watch. It also offers its very own storefronts for disillusioned users.

eBid: This familiar-sounding auction site was created in the U.K. in 1998. Since then, eBid has gained a considerable amount of popularity and opened up shop in nine more countries, including the U.S. "It's improving all the time," one commenter told us, "but just needs a big boost in terms of sellers and buyers."

eCrater: Like eBid, eCrater offers free listings. On top of that, users get "free website hosting, a free subdomain and a powerful admin tool to manage their free online stores," according to the homepage. Said one Appscout reader: "I've been with eCrater for nearly two years... sales are slow compared to eBay but [I] ship several sales a month and adore the increased profitability on eCrater since the site is completely free to use."

Ewaey: As far as names are concerned, Ewaey is perhaps the most blantant eBay ripoff around--even its multicolored lowercase logo looks pretty familiar. But as one of our readers put it, "It is very easy to list on and the customer service is great. Check it out, could [really be a] competitor to eBay in the future." The first 5,000 users get free listings forever--not sure how many they're up to at present, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

Google Base Beta: Google Base is a powerful and free service for getting your sale items listed in the country's most popular search engine. One reader put it this way: "That Google search box is some prime real estate, and it's free."

Hoobly: As evidenced by its blank About page, Hoobly still has a ways to go before it catches up with Google--and really, the site is more of an online classified site, comparable to, say, Craigslist. However, according to a PR rep who contacted us after the last eBay alternatives story, 500,000 people have already signed up for the site. So they must be doing something right. Right?

PlunderHere: Yaaaarrrr. Here be a pirate-themed auction site. The design leaves something to be desired, but still--pirates!

Ruby Lane: This site is geared toward users looking to sell things like antiques and jewelry. Items cost 30 cents to list, and the site doesn't take a commission on your sales.

Service Pack 3 for Windows XP Delayed

You may remember that in an April 21st blog, I told you that Microsoft was releasing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP in about a week. You may noticed that it hasn't arrived yet. The reason is that Microsoft has temporarily pulled it off the market while it fixes a problem. Microsoft is calling it a "compatibility issue." The problem has to do with something called "Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System." This is a special part of Windows used for retail chain management for small and midsize customers.

For us non-retail-chain-management folks, the bottom line is that Service Pack 3 is on indefinite hold...although it has shown up on some pirate Web sites. Service Pack 3 adds several networking and security improvements, and compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 security credential providers. It also incorporates features previously available individually as separate updates, such as Microsoft Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0, and Wi-Fi Protected Access 2. A recent test in the labs shows that SP3 does make Windows XP run a bit faster also.

I guess we will just have to wait for Microsoft to do its job. One does have to commend them for not releasing software that wasn't quite ready.

In a related story, Microsoft has withdrawn its offer to buy Yahoo. Microsoft raised its offer from $31 per share to $33, but Yahoo held fast at $37. Microsoft then said bye-bye to Yahoo. Most experts think it is probably a good thing for Microsoft.

Have You Twittered Yet?

Recently, I joined a fun Web site that I'd previously heard about, but didn't sound all that interesting. Now, I am a full blown member and use it at least once a day. It's called Twitter and can be found at http://www.twitter.com.

The purpose of Twitter is very singular and simple...you just go on-line and answer the simple question, "What are you doing?" You have only 160 characters to answer. How simple is that? Of course, joining and using it is free...and you would be surprised how many famous and interesting people do it. For instance, in the tech world, guys like Leo LaPorte, John C. Dvorak, Kevin Rose, and many others are Twitterers. There are also some notable folks in the photography world.

Besides being able to write your own entries, you can choose to follow other people's twitters. When I click on the Web site, it takes me to my Twitter home page where I can write an entry and read the entries of people I follow. What is fun is to create your own Twitter group of family or friends and follow them and their entries.

If you have been to my Web site or my Rants and Raves blog site, you will see in the left column my latest Twitter entries (I will do it shortly for my Postcards blog, but have been too focused on just getting it up and running). I try to make my twitters about my business, photographic, or artistic endeavors. You will never see entries about what I had for dinner or other mundane information.

You can click on the link at the bottom of my entries to follow me on Twitter, but, of course, you need a free account first. I already have a few people following my exploits, but I will make you deal...if you click that link to follow me, I am notified by e-mail, so I will then click on you and add you to the people I follow.

If this sounds like fun, head over to the Twitter Web Site and read more, then join if you want. My Twitter name, by the way, is jcorkrum.

A New Blog

Just wanted you to know that I created a new blog called "Postcards" that is now up and running. It is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I have included here the first entry for the blog to tell you what it is about. I would love to get your opinions on what I have done so far, so, if you have a minute, please click on the link and take a quick peek.

http://postcards.corkrum.com

If you would like to subscribe to it and get it in your e-mail postbox like many of you do now with "Rants and Raves," just drop me a quick e-mail at jcorkrum@corkrum.com and I will add you to the distribution list. Here is the first entry which tells you what the blog is about:

------------------------------------------------------------

With this entry, I begin a new blog called "Postcards." It is the blog I've wanted to do for some time. Simply put, it is a journal of my travels and my photographs. It is the story of where I am, where I have been, and, of course, where I am going....and it is about the pictures and images I create, which, of course, means its about me.

I call it Postcards because it will be like a postcard...a picture (or two) on one side, and a story on the back. Sometimes it will just be "The Picture of the Day", one of my pictures or paintings with a brief description or story about it. Other times, it will be what I call "Traveler's Tales"...more about the story than the pictures. For instance, an upcoming entry is entitled "Border Wars," and is about life right on top of the Arizona/Mexican border and the folks who try and stop the illegal aliens and drugs. It is the inside story as I experienced it, which you will never read in any newspaper of magazine.

I hope it will always be entertaining and informative. I think you will like the pictures...and I will try and give some insight into the mind of the artist who made them. Yes, I said made them, not take them. The true photographer/artist makes a picture...he doesn't take one.

Now, for those of you who read my tech blog, Rants and Raves, you know that I haven't written as much this year as years past...and you are probably asking yourself how I can possibly write a second blog. A good question...and, for that matter, one I continually ask myself. I am not sure I can do it, but it is something I must do. 2008 is a year of big changes for me and some things have been moved to the forefront while others got put on the back burner. Rants and Raves moved a little bit toward the back burner as these new changes unfold and take up more of my time. I will tell you more about them from time-to-time in Postcards.

I do love writing Rants and Raves and will keep it up as often as I can as I do spend a a good amount of time with computer technology and still follow it closely. It is still fun sharing my knowledge with you. Rants and Raves began about 10 years ago as a technology newsletter written to help promote my computer store business. It was and is very popular for many people. But, I have not had a computer business for 8 years.

Now I am a professional photographer and artist, a field that I actually started out in back in the 60's and drifted in and out for many year. For the last 10 years, it is back full time in my life and I think that it is what I was truly meant to do. So Postcards is really about my life now. I hope this makes sense. I want to share a part of my life with you, my interested readers, and with those members of my family and circle of friends, present and future, who may want to know a little more about me. Call it my memoirs.

Best of the MP3 Recorders

I recently took the plunge and purchased an Apple iPod Classic with an 80GB hard drive. I wanted something small that I could take with me on my trips that would carry all my music, books on tape, podcasts, and other recordings. In the near future, I will tell you more about my adventures with it and the Apple iTunes software. But for today, I just will focus on making MP3 recordings from my CD collection for storage on my computer and my iPod.

Music on commercially-produced cd's are recorded using a file format with no compression (other than that done in recording studio mixers). These files are quite large. MP3 is a method where much of the extraneous information contained in the standard CD audio file is taken out, leaving only the important musical information. Of course, the smaller you make it (meaning the greater the compression), the less fidelity you have from the original recording. The trick with MP3 is finding the happy medium where you really can't tell the difference between the MP3 version and the original file. Some audiophiles will tell you there is always a difference...and they may be right. But listener tests show that most people can't tell the difference between the original recording and an MP3 recorded at a bit rate of 192 or higher.

How small does this render the file size? Rather than give you numbers, let me just say that I have an 8 Volume complete CD collection of Schubert's String Quartets. Using a high quality MP3 recorder set at a bit rate of 225, which I will describe shortly, I can put 7 of those CD's on one blank MP3 CD-R. Of course, I need a way to play back MP3's which, of course is where the iPod comes in. There are also CD players (and even some DVD players) that can read MP3's recorded on a blank CD-R disk. I have two of those.

Interestingly, not all MP3 recorders are the same. There are many good free ones on the market, the best one being "Audiograbber," which is the one I use. All MP3 recording software use what is called a "Codex" to create an MP3 file from the original CD... and here is where some big differences come in. Not all codexes are created equal. Rather than talk about all of them, I will just tell you that in most experts opinions, the highest quality MP3 codex is named "LAME."

The problem is that LAME is not included by most free MP3 recorders, including AudioGrabber. But, AudioGrabber has the facility to let you use whatever codex you want. All you have to do is download LAME from their Web site, then move the LAME.DLL file into the AudioGrabber directory. Then, you just set up AudioGrabber to use the LAME codex. It is easier than it sounds.

Does LAME make a difference that you can hear? You betcha! I took one particular piece of music that I recorded three separate ways...using a standard MP3 codex, a LAME codex, and the Apple AAC codex (not MP3) that comes with iTunes. All were recorded at the same bit rate. LAME was definitely the best of the bunch and it was very audible to me, even with my aging ears.

Another tip I should pass along is when you set up your LAME recorder, set it at the second highest quality compression rate and use "Variable Bit Rate." It works just great.

More on using iPod, iTunes, and perhaps some other music software in the near future.

Best of the Free Windows Utilities Part 2

I've got more good free utility software for you today. Something I might recommend you do if you start getting some of these programs is to create a folder for your desktop called "Utilities" or something similar. As you start to download and install these applications, make sure you have each program install an icon on your desktop. Then, drag the icons into the folder. They will disappear off the desktop and into the folder. This does two thing: it helps keep your desktop clean AND puts a folder where you can see it for a reminder to run some of these utilities occasionally. Just a thought. Now...on with the show.

ZSoft Uninstaller

One of the things I've long suspected and have recently verified is that the Windows Uninstaller is not all that good. In fact, it leaves stuff behind that should be erased. To do it right, you need a better program such as ZSoft Uninstaller. This baby does it right. Besides uninstalling your current software, it will even go through and find leftover temp files from previous uninstalls that should have been removed a long time ago. I used it on my studio computer and it found almost 500Mb of stuff that it removed. This one is worth getting.

Glarysoft Registry Repair

A couple of years ago, I tried to find a good, free registry repair program and failed in the attempt. I wound up buying one that has served me well. However, I finally found a really good free one... Glarysoft Registry Repair software. It received rave reviews from tech writers and users alike. So I tried it and liked it a great deal. It will analyze your Windows Registry to find and get rid of outdated entries that no longer serve any purpose, making your computer start up faster when you turn it on. Just for the fun of it, the other day I first ran my paid registry repair program and it found 280 errors. After I ran it and did the cleanup, I ran the Glarysoft program. It found over 1,800 item that the other one missed! That's pretty good, I think.

EZBack-it-up

This may not be the best backup program ever invented but it works great for me. This program came out in 2004, but is no longer being upgraded or supported. It is a simple, no frills backup software that I use to backup my existing data on C: drive to my backup drive. It's simple, it works, and is fast. Why I liked it initially was that I just dragged and dropped the directories on the hard drive that I wanted back up. I gave it a name, told it where to back up the files, and away it went. The first backup took the longest, but after that, it only took a few seconds as it only backs up new files or those that were changed since the last backup. Piece of cake.

SyncBack

This is like a backup program, but is really a file synchronizer. It synchronizes the files in two different directories, usually on different drives, but not necessarily. For instance, I keep many of my photographs on my portable Western Digital Passport drive. I use Syncback to synchronize it with the pictures on my backup drive in the studio. I can also set it so that any old files I erase on my portable drive are not re-copied back to it, but do stay on the backup drive in the studio. It's pretty slick and fast. Be sure to look for the free version.

XPlorer2

I wrote about this one again a few days ago, so I won't go into any more detail. This is a replacement for the Windows Explorer file management program. Just get it. You can thank me later.

PCTools Firewall

I have written about this one before. It is a software firewall that I first used on my laptop, but is now used on all my computers. Even though I use a router with a built-in firewall at home and at the studio, I still use a software firewall. The reason is that malware can slip through the router's firewall and even a software firewall. But, if it tries to send information about me and my computer back out to the Internet before my anti-spyware catch or anti-virus program catch it and delete it, my software firewall will pick it up and notify me that something is going on and request me to authorize it. Now the PCTools firewall may not get the highest rating, but I like it because it doesn't drive me crazy with requests for permission. The best of the free firewalls supposedly is Komodo, but I used it for a while and it drove me crazy, constantly asking me for permissions even though I had already given it before. I finally deleted it and reinstalled PCTools version.

There are of course many other fine free software programs out there. If you would like to know one place that I check for some of the best freeware information, head over to the Tech Support Alert Web site.

Best of the Free Windows Utilities - Part 1

On and off during the course of this blog and its predecessor, the weekly newsletter, I've written about some excellent utilitarian software, many of which are free. In this blog, and the next one, I decided to focus on just the best free utility software programs available, at least to my way of thinking (and several other tech writers also). Some, I have written about before...others will be new for you. But I want to have all the good ones in one place for your benefit. I have also included the links where you can download them. I have used all of them and can readily recommend them for your use. So, in no particular order, let's get started.

Startup Inspector for Windows

I really have come to love this software. Over time, as you install new software, some companies seem to want to install their products in your startup files without your knowledge. After a while, unless you monitor it, your computer's memory could become clogged with many programs that are not needed and don't need to be running. Startup Inspector tells you at any moment what programs are in your startup menu, how much memory they consume and what they are really being used for. You can hit the "consult" button and get even more information, including recommendations about whether to keep it or dump it. If you don't want it, uncheck it, then hit the "Apply" button. The next time you restart your computer, these unwanted programs will not be installed into startup. But, you must keep up a continual vigil, as many of them try to sneak back in. Get this one.

FreeRAM XP Pro

Sometimes, when you are using a program, then exit from it, it leaves fragments of itself in your memory. After using your machine for a while, you will have a lot of your memory taken up by these little pieces of data. FreeRAM XP Pro, continually monitors your memory, automatically removing these unwanted particles, keeping your machine from running slower. And, you can always look down in the right corner of your screen and see how much memory is actually available to you. Sometimes I even double click on it to see if I can free up even more memory. It is a startup program that uses very little memory, but will help keep your machine going strong.

Auslogics Disk Defrag

I've written about this one before and it is definitely worth repeating. This is arguably the best disk defrager on the market today...and it's free. In case you don't know by now, the files on your computer's hard drive become fragmented over time, meaning different parts of any particular file wind up being spread all over your hard drive. After a while, this slows down your computer. A disk defrager puts your files back together again, thereby speeding up your computer. Defraging should be done about once a month. Folks normally don't like to defrag as it takes a while The Auslogics program is the fastest defrager available today and it does a terrific job.The company also make a fine registry defrager, also free.

CCleaner

Another program I've written about here previously. Before you defrag, you should probably clean up your hard drive so you don't defrag programs your going to get rid of anyway. Over time, your computer creates a lot of files that are useful for a short time, then never again. The problem is that they don't go away. CCleaner removes unused files from your system from programs like Internet Explorer (Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat); Firefox (Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history); Windows (Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files, and Log files) and others. One note of caution: you should carefully inspect the list of files that you want removed to make sure you don't erase something you use. The first time I used it, I lost my Firefox cookies files, which made me re-log in to several web sites that I use all the time. A bit of a pain. Still, I use this program before I defrag and at other times. I used it yesterday on my home computer and freed up over 4Gb of space, mainly from the Recycle Bin. It also cleans up other areas of your computer that are too numerous to mention here. Just get it and see for yourself.

WinRAR

An excellent file compressor and uncompressor software. You probably won't use it often, but it does a good job on ZIP files, RAR files, and several others. The program is free for the first 40 days, then it says you need to buy it. But guess what...you don't. Just click on it and it will work just fine.

More programs in the next edition.

PS: This just in...Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be available to the world on 4/29/08. Its long overdue.

Notebook Software - $$$ or Free?

In my last blog, I briefly mentioned a new category of software, aptly named Notebook. It would be more correct to call it super enhanced rather than new. Notebook software, which is designed to allow you to make notes and arrange them in categories, has been around for some time. The new enhanced versions go beyond that...they allow you clip web pages with a single button click on your browser and they are immediately copied into your notebook. You can also make your own notes using templates such as to-do lists, shopping lists, and more. Think of it as if you were a student. You could organize your notes taken in the classroom, categorize them by each individual course, then add research for term papers, either from notes you make from books or from pages on the Internet. Now, you can do this digitally instead of having loose paper notes stuck in a big folder.

And, trust me on this one, this is exactly what many college and high school students are now doing. Now, I can hear your next question...can't you bookmark pages in your browser? Yes you can, of course...but how many times have you clicked on a bookmark and found it has disappeared from the Web? With good notebook software, that won't happen. You may have also found interesting articles on the Web that you want to read sometime but don't have time at the moment you find them. Then, how often do forget all about it? That has definitely happened to me. Now, I click on a button on my browser menu and it is transferred immediately into my notebook. And, for some unknown reason, I find that I have read every article in my notebook.

After doing a lot of research on this subject, I found that there are two products that really standout in this field...Microsoft's OneNote and EverNote. OneNote costs anywhere from $60 on up as a stand-alone product or you can spend more and purchase a version of the Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 and it is included. OR...you can get EverNote for free. It is not as a choice as you might think. At least it wasn't for me.

On the positive side, OneNote has a fantastic interface...using main categories and two levels of sub-categories. It also uses tabs, just like a regular notebook. It is great eye candy and works exactly the way I would want my notebook to work. I just love the interface and would happily spend the money to purchase it...except it has one fatal flaw...something that pretty much kills it as a possible purchase. When you clip a Web page to OneNote, it doesn't render it exactly as you saw it on the web. In fact, it takes out all the spacing between paragraphs, pretty much running all text together...and making it very difficult to read. Graphic designers have known for years that white space in a document is just as important as text when it comes to making sure something is read. Of course, one can manually go in and put in the spaces, but that defeats the purpose of easy-to-use software.

In doing my research on the subject, I found many, many complaints from users on this subject...and I found that Microsoft has not addressed this issue at all, either in replies to complaining customers or in software updates. This is the second version of OneNote and it is not fixed yet.

One the other hand, when you clip a page to EverNote, it pretty much copies the page exactly as you saw it on the Web. You can clip the whole page or just the text you want (if the Web page has a lot of ads on it) and it will appear in your notebook perfectly. Now, why can't Microsoft do this? And...EverNote is a freebie! Amazing.

But, frankly speaking, EverNote's user interface is nowhere near as good as Microsoft's. You can create categories and sub-categories and they appear on the left side of your page, but sometimes they can be confusing. You can also use a list of articles that appear on the screen above the clippings themselves, but if you have too many articles or notes for one category, you have to scroll up and down to find the one you want. And EverNote runs all of it's clippings together, which can drive you crazy if you over-scroll.

Now, what I have just described to you is the current EverNote, version 2.2. They also have the new EverNote V.3 which is still in beta. But, it shows a great deal of promise. I like it very much, although it is still missing some of the better features of V2.2. But I am sure they will be eventually added.

The big change for V.3 is that it puts all your notes on the Web as well as your computer, making it easy to access anywhere there is an Internet connection...and to synchronize if you use more that one computer. It's interface is much easier to use, although I still wish it had tabs.

If you would like to read more about OneNote and even download a 60 day trial copy, just head over the Microsoft Web site. EverNote 2.2 is available on the EverNote Web site, although the site is very confusing right now as they start to make the transition over for V.3. There are some good tutorials for V2.2 on the site, but you have to hunt down the best ones by doing a search on the site.

As for V.3, you must get an invite from EverNote to be a tester. I did and I have the ability to invite 10 other people to become testers. If you are interested, drop me an e-mail and I will get you an invite. As I said, I think V.3 is going to be a very good product, but, damn, I want those tabs!

10 Best Windows Programs?

A few weeks ago, an excellent columnist over at ZDNet, Ed Bott, wrote an article about about his 10 favorite Windows applications. It was interesting, but was still just one man's opinion. I have my own opinions on the subject, but then again, so do you (unless, of course, you are a MAC fanatic). Well, a whole lot of people who also read Ed's column wrote to him about their favorite programs. Ed, being a good listener, compiled a list of everybody else's favorite and wrote a second article listing them. I must say, it was far more interesting to me because it gave a consensus of opinion of many folks rather than just one...and it introduced me to some programs I didn't know about.

So, I thought I would pass the article on to you and make a few comments as there are some good programs you might want to know about. Some are free and some are not. So here goes:

Microsoft OneNote - I had never heard of this program. Now, I am glad I have. It is part of a fairly new class of software known as "Notebook Software." OneNote is a good program that has one fatal flaw, at least for me. I am going to save any further discussion of OneNote and other Notebook-class software for my next blog, so stay tuned...it will be worth it.

Skype - I have never used this as we have a terrific Internet phone service, Packet8, where I can call anywhere in the US and Canada for free. But, many folks tell me that Skype is good...and free.

Xplorer2 - This is the by far the best file manager software available today. I have been using it for a couple of years. So should you. It is so much better than Windows Explorer...and it is also free.

WinRAR - An excellent utility software that handles different kinds of compressed files... another freebie.

Windows Live Writer - Another new Microsoft program that I had not heard of. But, unlike OneNote and most other Microsoft software, it is FREE! And you know what? Even folks who hate Microsoft grudgingly admit that this is a very good program. Live Writer is made for blogging. I loved it within minutes of trying it out. As a matter of fact, I am writing this blog on Live Writer. So if you blog, I strongly suggest you get this. You can write your blogs on your own computer rather than on-line...and when you are done, you can post it directly to your blog. What is even better is an enterprising young man named Scott Kingery recently created a way to make it portable so you can install it on a USB drive, which is where mine now resides.

IrfanView - I've written about this graphic software before, but still have not given it a try. The good new is that is is free and always being updated and improved.

I suggest you read the full article to learn about some of the other software that people like...and there is a link to Ed's original article that has more good information.

Portability - Part 4

When I started this series, I had only intended to do three episodes. But recently, I read an interesting article on portable USB hardware that I thought I should pass along. It concerns the speed of USB drives...which are the fastest, what size do you need, and which one you might consider buying. The article was written by Scott Dunn and appears on the Windows Secrets Web site.

If you don't wish to read it, let me do a quick recap for you and tell you a little about my experiences. As I mentioned in my first article, USB flash drives are not at fast as hard drives, which I find difficult to fathom as there are no moving parts. And as I continue to use my current flash drive, I've become more aware that speed is becoming an issue for me. Currently, I use a Lexar 2GB flash drive that I bought at Costco...and while I still have plenty of room on it right now, my use of the portable drive is getting more important all the time. So speed and size are something that I have been thinking about.

Something I didn't mention in my first article is that the bigger the drive, the slower the drive speed. Scott Dunn's article recommends using a 4GB drive that will give you a good balance between speed and storage capacity. Also, in reading this article and others, the same brands keep popping up as the fastest. One of the highest rated brands in all the articles I read is the Corsair Flash Voyager. Scott Dunn's article shows that an independent testing lab rates the Corsair 4 GB drive as having the fastest read speed at 33Mb per second.

So, using a testing program recommended in the same article, I decided to check out my Lexar drive. The test results show the Lexar read speed at only 16Mb per second. Now I really want a new drive. So, in doing a little research, I found the 4 Mb Corsair Flash Voyager on sale at NewEgg.com for only $19.99 with free shipping. Needless-to-say, I placed my order immediately. As a side note, I use NewEgg for many of my computer hardware purchases as they are reliable, fast, and usually offer some of the best pricing.

Another item covered in Scott Dunn's article which I didn't cover at all (but knew about) were USB drives that use U3 Smart Drive. In my research, I have seen a couple of portable software applications that require U3-equipped drives. If you wish to learn more about U3, you can go to Scott Dunn's article. But the bottom line is U3 should be a low priority in your choice of USB drives. I agree with him, which is why I didn't write about it earlier.

A second article by Mr. Dunn talks more in depth about software suites and applications designed for USB drives. I highly recommend you take a look at this one also. While I use the PortableApps Suite right now, I think I am going to try out the other application mentioned in his article called winPenPack. After all, I will shortly have an extra USB drive to play with. The article also has some good tips for safely using your USB drive on computers other than your own.

Portability - Part 3

As I began this series of blogs on portability, and, more importantly, started using portable software for my own benefit, I didn't realize the depth of the subject. There are hundreds, if not thousands of portable applications out there available to make your computing life easier and more productive. And the scope and sweep of this relatively new area in computing is getting bigger and bigger. In this issue, I plan to tell you about a few of the applications I have found to be pretty darn good at what they do. I also plan to cover some up and coming portable applications in future blog when they actually come to market...and there are some very interesting ones now in beta. But, let's begin with some applications that might be useful to you right now:

Avast! Portable

After the last blog, two readers inquired about the dangers of sticking your portable USB drive into computers other than your own. That is a very valid question, and, in fact, if you do that a lot, you will more than likely catch a virus. But there are solutions. In the PortableApps Suite that I wrote about last time, there is an anti-virus software included called "ClamWin." It is one that I had not heard of prior to discovering PortableApps Suite, and in doing my research, I found a few users who report that the software gave out some false positives when doing scans. For that reason, I deleted it from my USB drive. But, there is a great, free anti-viral software out there that I have used for years and now comes in a portable version. Avast! is a free program that has been around for some time and upgrades its virus definitions on a daily basis. It has done a good job for me and millions of other users for a long time and now is available for your portable drive. You can read more about it and download it from this Web site.

Debrief

To put it briefly (no pun intended), Debrief is a note-taking application that allows you make notes, or cut and paste useful info from web sites and e-mails. You then can organize them into categories that appear on the left side of your screen. I like this easy-to-use program a great deal, although I must admit I am starting to use a different program now that I will tell you about in an upcoming blog. But for simplicity and ease of use, this one is hard to beat. Read more about it and download it from their Web site. Again, the portable version is free, although there is a paid professional version that is also available.

EssentialPIM

If I wasn't so in love with Lotus Organizer, EssentialPIM is the program that I would use as a personal information manager. In fact, I did use it for a while until I broke down and purchased Organizer. The curious thing about the software is that you pay $29.95 for it if you want it installed on your computer, but the portable version is free. Go figure. Anyway this software package is similar in so many ways to Microsoft Outlook (without the e-mail). It has separate sections for your calendar/scheduler, to-do lists, address book, and a note taking section similar in layout to Debrief. In addition, there is a "Today" page that opens automatically when you access the program that gives you a complete overview of your schedule and to-do lists. The one thing I really like about this program that you just don't see in other programs is its color. You can create different colors for different categories and the colors are assigned to your schedule making it easy, useful, and more pleasurable to use. This program is definitely better than the Sunbird software that comes with PortableApps. Check it all out for yourself at their Web site.

PokerTH

OK...this one is for fun. If you have ever wondered if you are a good poker play, try this out and see. It is free and won't cost you anything to find out the truth about your skills. The game is Texas Hold 'em and you can set several parameters for the way you play the game. It is fun to try and play and it helped me figure out quickly that I should never play the game for real money. But I love to play it for a few minutes when I need to take a break from life. I look for a decent hand, then go all-in to see what happens. You can download it at the PortableApps Web site.

Pidgin Portable

Pidgin is probably the best software you can use if you are into instant messaging. As is usually the case, your circle of friends and family probably use different software that don't mix, such as AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ and Jabber. Pidgin allows you to use all of these under one program rather than having to install one of each. It to is available for free at the PortableApps Web site.

IrfanView and GIMP

These are free software products that do an excellent job for manipulating and improving your photographs. They are now available in portable versions. I have written about both of them before and for free, you just can't beat them. And, they are a whole lot cheaper than Photoshop!. You can download GIMP from the PortableApps Web site. IrfanView is available from the Softpedia Web Site.

As I said earlier, there is a ton of portable software available, many of them for free. Do a Google search and you will see what I mean. Check out Softpedia, Pendriveapps, Portablefreeware, and of course, the PortableApps Web site. And remember, any program you choose can be added to your PortableApps menu by installing it from your USB drive rather than your regular hard drive.

As I side note, I have been running the beta versions of new FireFox 3.0 on my USB drive. Doing it this way, one can try out the new version and not interfere with the installation of stable version 2.0 on my computer. It's pretty cool, by the way.

Portability - Part 2

In this edition, we take a look at some software to get you started on the road to portability. Just as a reminder, my definition of "portability" for these blogs is the ability to work on your most important data anytime, anywhere, on any computer...and to have all the computers looking at the most up-to-date versions of your work. The good news here is that all the software we are going to talk about today is FREE!!

Foldershare

I told you about this great software about 15 months ago. I continue to use it today on all my computers and it continues to be one of the most important parts of my portability scheme. There are two really good things about this program...first of all it is free...and second, it requires no additional hardware on your part. Foldershare is a Microsoft program that is easy to install and use. It runs continuously in the background, using the Internet to keep all your computers connected and sharing information. It's main job to keep your most important documents synchronized on the computers and files that you designate.

For instance, I installed my business accounting software on both my home and office computer. I use Foldershare to keep the accounting data in sync on both computers. So, I can work on my accounts at both my studio and home. As I save the data, Foldershare uses the Internet to keep the files in perfect synchronization. If the home computer is off, Foldershare will sync up any new data when the computer is turned back on. I also use it for all my spreadsheet and and word processing documents...but in this case I also have my laptop involved as I am always creating new data when on the road. I pick and choose what data is synched on what computer.

Another side benefit of Foldershare is that it acts as a backup of all your most important data. Lets say one of your computer's hard drives goes bad or your laptop is stolen. Your most important data is already backed up on one of your other computers. I also use it to continuously backup my wife's data from her computer to my external backup drive. It saves time and money as she does not have to worry about having a separate backup drive or remembering to back up her data on occasion. Foldershare can be downloaded for free from the Foldershare.com web site.

PortableApps

I discovered this incredible set of applications a few months ago and it has been an important part of my portability arsenal ever since. The PortableApps Suite includes several specially designed programs that are installed and run on your removable USB drive rather than your computer's hard drive. They include portable versions of Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail program, portable FireFox web browser, a calendar/address book software, Sodoku, a complete portable version of all the OpenOffice Suite programs, including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program and several others...and a few other programs that you might find useful.

As I said, you install the program directly onto your portable USB drive so that the programs on it can be used on any Windows-based computer. I installed the programs on my own 2GB Lexar USB drive (about 1" long). After installation, I still have about 75% of my USB drive available for storage of the data created by these portable programs. I also store some other data on it that I use with software that is installed on all three of my computers. As an example, my Lotus Organizer software, which is my Personal Information Manager of choice, can't be installed on my portable drive, but the data can be and is. To make this work easily, I told each of my three computers to make my USB drive be recognized as Drive S:...and I told Organizer to access its data from drive S:. Very useful.

Regarding the software that comes as part of PortableApps, it is all good stuff. I think Thunderbird is a far better e-mail program than Outlook Express, and with its optional calendar
program, it even rivals Outlook itself. As far as the OpenOffice Suite goes, I have been using it for over a year on my laptop and I think it is fantastic. It is just as good as Microsoft's Office, it's free, and I can access and save data that was original created in Office. So having a portable version of OpenOffice is a real bonus.

I keep my USB drive in a certain pocket so I know where it is at all times when not plugged into one of my computers. So as I move from place to place, my major office-type programs are always with me. But, what if I lose my little USB drive? After all, it is only one inch in length. Fortunately, PortableApps comes with its own backup application, so I save my portable data to a backup hard drive every day so that if something happens, I can be up and running on another drive in no time. If I happen to travel someplace without my laptop, I can visit a cyber cafe and plug my USB drive into one of their computers and be up and running in a few seconds.

If all this sounds interesting, I suggest you head over to the PortableApps Web site to read more about it and maybe give it a try. You may discover that you like it a great deal. When you visit their site, you will see they carry several other free portable applications. In the next episode, I am going to talk about some of these other portable applications and a few others that are not listed.

Portability - Part 1

Over the years, my personal computer use has grown from one computer to three…one at home, one at my studio, and a laptop for use when I am on the road, which is very often over the course of a year. The dilemma I face, and that of every other person who uses more than one computer is which one stores the main files that you use?

For instance, which e-mail account do I use on one or the other? You can use one, but then you have your e-mail spread across two machines. For a while, I handled that by having three e-mail accounts…a solution that worked most of the time, but not always.

What about spreadsheets and word-processing documents? I always need access to them on all three machines, so what do I do when I have written a document on one machine, say my laptop, and I want to print it from my home computer. And what about my schedules…which of my three machines do I use for those?

Of course, I can make copies and have them on all three machines, but if I make a new entry on one, how to I get it to the other? My schedules have to match at all times if I am to be efficient and not miss a wedding or an art show.

So that is what this blog (and the next two) is about. I use the word “portability” here to describe the methodology whereby all my important work is available to me at all times on all three machines…and they are all current. No easy task…but it can be done and it is much easier than it use to be.

To achieve this portability, you need two basic things…the proper hardware and the proper software. No surprise here. So, in Part 1, I will focus on hardware, and then in Part 2, I will concentrate on software. Part 3 will cover more portable software that you can take with you anywhere.

Now, if you have only one computer then you don’t have to worry much about portability. But, stick around anyway because you just might find some neat tricks you will find useful now and in the future. But let’s take a look at two important pieces of hardware that lay at the heart of portability.

USB Memory

This is one of the slickest devices ever made to help you achieve portability. A USB memory device is sometimes called a memory stick, or a thumb drive, or a flash memory drive. They are very small, usually 1”-2” in length and feature a connector on one end that plugs into your computer’s USB port. They can hold anywhere from 256 MB all the way up to 8 GB of data. They are like a small portable hard drive, except there are no moving parts.

The downside is that they are actually slower than a hard drive, but none-the-less just as useful…and you can carry them in your pocket. Best of all, the prices have come down so low that anyone can afford one. I recently saw an 8 GB stick on sale for $28!

Primarily, they were used to copy or store one or more files so different computers can share them. But now, they can also hold so-called portable applications that can run all by themselves when plugged into your computers so you can carry not only your data but the programs that create and use the data. More on that in the next blog.

Portable External Hard Drives

These have been around for some time…except there is now a new breed of small hard drive that is extremely smaller than older drives and useful, especially in regards to portability. The best example of this new drive is the Western Digital Passport Drive. The drive is very small, measuring 5”x 3”x ½” in size. They run anywhere in drive capacity from 80GB up to 320GB and use a USB connector to plug into your computer. Prices? I paid $89 for my 160GB drive some months ago, and I saw just the other day that Costco had the 250GB drive for $129.

Besides being very small, the best part about these drives is you don’t need a separate power plug. The USB cable supplies enough power from the computer to allow the drive to work just fine. So one small cable provides both the power and data connection. Very handy, to say the least! (Be aware that some older computers cannot supply enough power to run these drives, but you can get a powered USB hub that will run them just fine).

If there is a drawback to these drives is that they only spin at 5400 RPM, while most standard hard drives run at 7200 RPM. But, quite frankly, I cannot see the difference in actual use. My large photo files seem to load just as fast off the portable drive as they do off my regular drive.

Now, many of you won’t need this extra external hard drive, but as a photographer, I found it most useful, especially when using Adobe Lightroom. This photo software works by keeping enhancements to a photo in a database rather than on the picture itself. I can now transport my photos (and their accompanying database) to any of my three computers without losing the changes made on a different computer. You can also use it to transport all your data, make backups, and even programs from computer to computer.

In part 2 of this series, I will explore some of the great software available to give you extended portability with your most important data.

DVD War Update

A couple of days ago, I told you the war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD was only a few days away from truly being over. As of today, it is officially over. Toshiba, inventors and makers of HD-DVD, officially announced it will make no more HD-DVD players. The world of high definition DVD players now belongs to Blu-Ray.

Some writers have dubbed this announcement by Toshiba as their "BetaMax Address," referring of course, to that day many years ago when Sony announced they would cease production of BetaMax video tape recorders. On that day, sales of VHS machines started to take off. Expect the same for Blu-Ray machine sales. It is ironic that Sony lost the BetaMax/VHS war, but won this one.

Another loser of this war, although probably only in the short term, is Microsoft. They supported HD-DVD as a plug-in to their X-Box game machine. As of right now, their sales have dropped below that of Sony's PlayStation for the first quarter of this year, putting them in last place in game box sales (Nintendo is still in first place). The PlayStation, of course, supports Blu-Ray.

Shortly after, the Toshiba announcement, Universal Studios announced their support for Blu-Ray, leaving only Paramount still officially supporting HD-DVD. Expect that to change very shortly.

Now that you know who won the war, you may be tempted to run right out and get a Blu-Ray player for your Hi Definition television. If so, you might be interested in this recent article on the CNET website, "5 Blu-Ray Players for Less than $500." As I said the other day, Blu-Ray players are still on the pricey side, but that will change as it inevitably does.