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.
My laptop is on the fritz. Again. While I run hot and cold on the topic of service contracts in general, I’ve come to accept that buying a factory extended warranty on a laptop makes good financial sense. I just wish I had signed up for the AppleCare extended warranty program for my iBook, way […]
I’m a big fan of the online hotel reservation services … whether for business or pleasure, they’re great for travel research. And once you’ve scoped out the hotels at your destination, the service will kick out a confirmation number with just a few clicks. But truth be told, online hotel reservation services can fall short […]
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff to the summer barbecue season. As folks here in the States prepare to kick back in the backyard, those fabulous gas grills are rolled out of the storage shed for the first time of the year. But lets be realistic … some of those gas grills are less […]
It didn’t take long for HP’s acquisition of Snapfish to bear fruit. The online digital photo print lab has slashed prices, just in time for the start of summer. Individual 4×6-inch inch photo prints are now just 12 cents a piece at Snapfish (down from 19 cents). The new pricing structure rivals that of the […]
This morning, I helped out a friend with some domains that she had recently registered. I was aghast to learn that she had registered those domains with Network Solutions. While all of my techie friends moved on to more reasonable domain name registrars long ago, this friend isn’t so techie. Consequently, she lost a nice […]
If I told you that a game as big as the Superbowl will be played Wednesday, would you think I was nuts? Well … there is and yeah, I am … for this is the day of this year’s Champions League final … an epic showdown between Liverpool and A.C. Milan. The game will be […]
What’s up with the telemarketing business? In the space of three hours this morning, I got no less than six telemarketing calls. Five of those calls were for refi or home equity loan offers. The sixth was for a credit card. Maybe it’s partially my fault …
Compact Flash (CF) cards … they’re handy little thingies, for sure … but what happens when that Compact Flash card reads and writes as slow as molasses?
I confess … I didn’t go to see Revenge of the Sith at midnight. And I had an invitation to go, from a fellow geekbook author, no less …
What happened to the laser toner cartridge that I paid way too much for at Best Buy, you ask?
I’m a big believer in sweat equity and putting PCs to work around the house. Whether it’s building a shed, laying out a laminate floor, or designing a pattern for a ceramic tile entryway, PCs have their place in the D-I-Y handyman’s tool chest. So why am I so darn hesitant to build my own […]
I’ve been building my digital music library bit-by-bit of late. The majority of my purchases have been split between used CDs that I buy through eBay and downloaded albums and singles purchased from iTunes. Suffice to say, I have a considerable pile of CDs sitting around that have yet to be ripped. Looking at that […]
Is there a clunker cluttering up your driveway? By donating your car to charity, you’ll gain tax benefits and get old paint out of the way … all while doing some good. But it’s not all altruism in the automobile donation biz, to be sure …
Printers just seem to have a knack for running out of ink at the worst time. This morning was no exception. I was in the midst of a sound sleep when I heard the words, “honey, the laser printer’s running out of ink …”
It’s been nearly half a year since I picked up a PC blood pressure monitor. I know I promised to write a review way back when, I have to apologize for the extended delay …
A chicken in every pot, two cars in every garage, and a network server in every broom closet?
Okay, so you haven’t forgotten that Sunday is Mother’s Day … but there’s something monumental happening on Saturday that just may have slipped your mind …
Don’t look now … Mothers Day is just around the corner. What, you haven’t bought Mom a gift yet? Here are some quick ideas …
There’s a right way and a wrong way to ensure electronic document security, as Baghdad-based US military command recently learned. If you want to make sure that specific information in your Acrobat PDF is effectively (and entirely) obscured, you can’t just drop a bunch of black rectangles on top of the text and hope for […]