Every weekday, our guide to the Web takes care of business, tackling tech topics that really matter to everybody. From topic definitions to topical rants, Dan Gray\’s pieces inform as much as they entertain.
With skyrocketing costs and ever-present security concerns, web conferencing is all the rage. And for good reason; just think about all the time it takes to get to and from a conference and the lifeblood it extracts from you and your co-workers.
I’m a big fan of online business card printing. When it’s done right, the process of ordering full-color business cards online is fast, easy, and the price can’t be beat. But when things go wrong, as my buddy’s recent experience shows, you have to persevere …
Technology teaches lessons that sometimes come to us in “well, duh” moments. Just this afternoon, I was yakking away on my VOIP phone when the line went dead. Poof … no dial tone, no nothing. The first thing I did was look at the VOIP telephone adapter. The lights were all out. Terror crept up […]
I can’t stand to sit at my computer desk. With a pull-out printer shelf and a tower hutch, it sure can stow a lot of gear–I’ve had it packed with as many as three computers at a time. It has rudimentary cable management features, and is reasonably handsome (as computer desks go), being hand-finished oak […]
Cellphones … can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em, some might say. To tell the truth, I can live without a cellphone. Easily. Of all of our modern conveniences, I find the mobile phone to be the most annoying. It’s not that I want to be out of touch — far from it. If […]
There are lots of good things to do on this 35th Earth Day. But I’m not recommending that you go out and hug a tree or anything radical that might drag you away from the computer and force you into the sunlight. I’m merely suggesting that you take a look around your place to see […]
My hometown’s school board took their budget to the voters yesterday and it went down in a big way. The proposed $53.7 million dollar school budget lost by a 2-1 margin. A second initiative, to supply individual laptop computers to each and every high school student at a cost of $391,705 per year for the […]
I had to stop to drop some things off at our friendly local Post Office this afternoon. This PO’s usually a sleepy place … but it wasn’t today. The parking lot was packed. I didn’t connect the dots until I stepped inside. Upon seeing the line of folks at the counter, the dots were connected. […]
You’ve probably heard that AOL has launched its VOIP service. Let’s look past the hype and figure out exactly how much it will cost the average consumer …
When I penned my real-life it-just-happened piece on the government grant telemarketing call I received back in December, I didn’t think it would generate much response. Boy, was I wrong. Over the past four months, a whole bunch of folks have written to tell me their government grant call experiences …
If your taxes aren’t done yet, you’ve got one week to make it happen. (This is your last weekend!) It you’re in those shoes, it’s time for the World Wide Web to come to the rescue … thankfully, you don’t have to slip out of your slippers or leave your computer to complete your taxes. […]
When put in the right hands and used for the right purpose, Macromedia’s Flash is one formidable file format. But there’s one area where the experts agree that Flash is sorely lacking: search engine optimization (SEO). Websites that rely heavily on Flash for the delivery of content fall short when it comes to providing an […]
Michael Kremer wasn’t pleased with the hair restoration treatment he received at a popular clinic. So he created a website to let the public know the hair restoration company’s prior history. Needless to say, the hair restoration company wasn’t flattered by the attention. So they sued …
On Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]
I’ve been on an energy-saving kick for quite a while now. But I only got around to installing a programmable thermostat a few years back. Once I did, I kicked myself for taking so long. If you pay for your own heat and air conditioning and you don’t have a programmable thermostat, you’re losing […]
We’re addicted to disposable batteries … and that’s a bad thing. While there’s a much better alternative to those standard one-time-use alkalines, the technology just doesn’t get the shelf space it deserves. NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries can be recharged hundreds upon hundreds of times. Every NiMH battery you buy can easily save you a […]